Clash of the Elements Part 4: Desolate Corruption
by mewmaster93
Summary: A wandering and traumatized Riku ends up accidentally flying into the Metroid galaxy, where he quickly ends up getting involved in the return of one of its greatest threats and the being last responsible for spreading this material across the galaxy. Can Riku hope to help the famous Samus Aran conquer this old foe, especially when he can barely function after what happened before?
1. Chapter 1

_In the beginning there was nothing. It was the most peaceful time the universe had ever known, when it was free of plagues, war, and wanton destruction…But the birth of everything brought forth these concepts into existence in a variety of forms, creating sentient and sometimes inorganic bodies to host these procreators of such vile concepts as they wandered the universe, spreading their filth onto the growing planets and species and dictating their ways of life before they even came into existence. One such plague was a sentient organic substance that went by the name of Phazon. It was a highly poisonous and corrosive mutagen that had the power to instantly mutate of kill those it touched. Whether it be sentient beings or inanimate landscapes, Phazon neither cared nor judged right or wrong as it spread across many planets, bringing an end to the primordial life growing on the surface by making it all part of its very being._

_Time and time again Phazon merged the newly forming planets into its body, taking advantage of the short distance between them to transform itself into a planet of its own design. By absorbing these planets and primordial beings into itself, the newly formed Phaaze became intrigued by the concept that echoed in its mind that was known as "creation", and for thousands of years Phaaze floated in the darkest depths of space and tried to comprehend what "creation" truly meant. It grew slowly in sentience, its glowing blue body sticking to a sector of space that it called its own where no one would ever find it. From there, Phaaze stood in place for thousands upon thousands of more years, thinking about nothing more than the illusive concept of "creation" as its thoughts became more and more complex in regards to that single word._

_From those thoughts, Phaaze began to understand what "creation" meant, and from the oozy scars in the core of its body the planet created its first form of life. It was nothing more than a simple worm that squirmed for a bit before it died, but the success of this "creation" caused Phaaze to desire more "creations" be made in its image. It worked tirelessly over centuries, its creatures becoming more grotesque yet stronger in design as the death rate plummeted and the planet became inhabited by this highly toxic form of life. However, as one that knew nothing about right and wrong, Phaaze believed that all other worlds should experience the gift of its "creation", not realizing just how corrosive its bodily substance would be to other worlds._

_At first Phaaze tried to send its "creations" directly to other planets, but found that none of them could survive the cold vacuum of space. The many deaths didn't weigh heavily on its conscience, because such a thing didn't exist in this sentient virus. It just kept creating new life, trying time and time again to master a creature powerful enough to survive a journey through space. Eventually through years of failure Phaaze chose an alternative, and created a type of seed that could carry his life into space and bring them to new planets. But the planet was not satisfied with the small life it had created. It wanted something bigger, something as grandiose as itself to herald its concept of "creation" onto these strange new planets._

_The discovery and development of "creation" throughout the years had given birth to an ego inside of Phaaze's sentient mind, causing it to believe itself to be higher than it truly was. With its power of "creation" Phaaze crafted Leviathans, gigantic sentient capsules of pure raw phazon that would seek out and infected a single creature in these new worlds and show the world the beauty of its "creations", and these new guardians would spread Phazon across the lands from the Leviathan seed. However, Phazon was not the only plague spreading itself across the universe at the time. Another sentient 'virus' that consisted of black creatures with hellish yellow eyes was making its presence known across hundreds of planets, their influence so mighty that the Leviathans Phaaze sent out were swiftly overwhelmed before even a single drop of Phazon touched the surface of the planet._

_Phaaze didn't become angry, nor did it desire revenge against these heartless monsters. It merely waited, creating new creatures by the droves that would secure the planets once this mysterious new plague had disappeared from the universe. It took thousands of years, but eventually Phaaze knew that the time was right for it to strike out again, and sent a Leviathan seed to one of the planets it tried to conquer before, a lone paradise inhabited by the wise bird-like alien known Chozo that went by the name of Tallon IV. The Leviathan seed impacted with the surface of the planet, creating a massive crater through which the seed spread itself Phazon across the landscape, tainting its beauty and leaving nothing but mutation and death in its wake._

_The Chozo on this world began to die out, but not before witnessing the Leviathan emerging from the seed and devouring one of their creations, the parasitic organism known as the Metroid, become forcibly transformed into the guardian of Phazon on Tallon IV known as Metroid Prime. The Chozo then died, their spirits forced to stay on the planet thanks to the otherworldly affecting powers of the Phazon that had corrupted their world. But before they left their physical bodies, the Chozo saw visions of the future and set up their temples and bastions with weapons and items that would surely help the savior of their world defeat the one called Metroid Prime…_

_Fast forward nearly thirty years later, where on the lone mining colony of K-2L a group of humans set their sights on mining the minerals and rare stones from the ground for use in trading and other means of profit. One of the humans on this world was a little girl barely three years of age, whose fate would forever be changed and her innocence swiftly shattered by those that were soon to arrive. After a peaceful faction of Chozo from the planet Zebes came to K-2L in search of the rare Afloraltite, which many used as a means of powering their space-faring vehicles, the planet was suddenly attacked by the vicious marauders known as Space Pirates along with their fearsome, draconic leader Ridley._

_Ravaging the planet and its people, these propagators of wanton destruction left barely anything in their wake, including the little girl's parents, Virginia and Rodney Aran. In the end, it was only through the sacrifice of a massive quantity of Afloraltite that Ridley and the Space Pirates scattered from the planet, leaving an unconscious and traumatized Samus Aran alone on the burning planet's surface until she was rescued by Old Bird and Gray Voice, two Chozo whose wisdom and finesse were said to be incredible even amongst their race. Taking this child back to Zebes, the two Chozo infused her with their DNA to allow her to survive, unknowingly increasing her strength and agility to above peak human levels._

_For years afterwards the two Chozo trained Samus in their warrior ways, giving her their specially designed Power Suit in order to give her a fighting chance when basic kicks and punches would have no effect on the foes she would most certainly come across. Though Old Bird and Gray Voice trained Samus to be a warrior, underneath that suit of armor lied a child-like heart that hadn't aged much thanks to the trauma caused by Ridley eleven years ago. From this innocence spawned a strong desire to prevent needless bloodshed, culminating in a defiance of Gray Voice's wishes when he wanted to burn a venomous plant along with the innocent creatures that carried them to Zebes known as Iono Feria. After this defiance, Gray Voice believed that Samus was ready to leave Zebes, and though it took a little persuading to silence her doubts Gray Voice managed to convince Samus to take up the mantle of "Protector of the Galaxy."_

_After departing from Zebes, Samus became a part of the Galactic Federation Police, a galaxy-wide force that worked to keep the peace on every planet under the authority of the GF. Samus embarked on a variety of missions that allowed her to utilize the training her Chozo surrogate parents gave her, and with the Power Suit assisting her in every battle Samus slowly began to become famous amongst the ranks of the GF. She especially grabbed the attention of General Adam Malkovich, who saw great potential in Samus behind the layers of recklessness and defiance she showed. In time, Adam would take Samus under his wing and train her…But there was still one obstacle for Samus to overcome before she reached that point._

_A return to planet Zebes led Samus to encounter the dreaded Ridley once more, whose mere presence brought back the paralyzing trauma that struck her once more, the pain of those memories being amplified by the revelation that Ridley had devoured her parent's corpses in order to survive all those years ago. Samus begged her allies to kill her to end her pain, but none of them could bear to do the job. The situation grew worse as it was revealed that the sentient computer, Mother Brain, had allied herself with the Space Pirates, and the remaining Chozo on Zebes were slowly wiped out one after the other until only Old Bird himself remained. _

_Through her own self-preservation and willpower, Samus conquered her trauma long enough to help her friends escape, blasting Ridley square in the chest with her Power Beam while Gray Voice sacrificed his life to try and stop Mother Brain. Samus Aran escaped Zebes that day, but returned to the HQ of the GF as a serious, is somewhat bitter and distant woman. Years passed, and after a couple of those years spent under the wing of Adam Malkovich ended in a heated argument over the order to not let her save Adam's brother Ian the matured Samus Aran became a solo bounty hunter that began to distance herself from others…Even those friends of hers she shared fond memories with had become nothing more than a memory to her in time._

_But despite the bitterness of her departure from the GF Police Force, Samus still willingly took up missions for them whenever they asked, her grandest mission coming when it was revealed that Mother Brain and the Space Pirates were planning to use the Metroids to attack the GF main Headquarters. Traveling to Zebes, Samus Aran gathered the items that the Chozo had left behind for her and slew both of Mother Brain's generals, which included the draconic Ridley, whose burning carcass brought nothing but emotionless satisfaction to Samus' mind as she confronted the traitor Mother Brain and destroyed her with her vastly improved arsenal. Some say the bounty hunter was ambushed as she headed off world and was forced to re-acquire her Power Suit, but no one on Zebes save for her managed to fully survive this aptly named "Zero Mission"…And Samus herself was unwilling to go into full detail on the matter to anyone but those who hired her._

_Months after the Space Pirates' defeat on Zebes, Samus received word of their activities above Tallon IV via a distress signal, and after tearing about their facility known as the Frigate Orpheon the bounty hunter was shocked to find a rejuvenated and now metallic Ridley flying towards the planet with his massive wings. Pursuing the metallic dragon to the planet after most of her powers were disabled via short-circuiting during her escape from the falling Frigate, Samus traveled across the surface world of Tallon IV and used her wits and finesse to reactivate and acquire many weapons and functions in the Power Suit. Along the way Samus learned of Phazon and the destruction it spread across the planet many years ago, and discovered that there used to be Chozo on this planet._

_As she continued to travel through Tallon IV, Samus laid waste to all of the Space Pirate's experiments and facilities, making certain that not a single one of them survived an encounter with her until she finally took down the Omega Pirate, a monstrosity infused with the rawest phazon drawn from the Impact Crater, the place where the corruption originated from. The Omega Pirate, however, fell on top of her suit, infusing it with an immunity to blue phazon that would allow her to escape the Phazon Mines and head towards the Impact Crater itself, where a confrontation with the revived Meta-Ridley ended with the supposed destruction of the beast's inflamed heart as he was flung from the grounds by the searing lasers from the eyes of the Chozo statues above._

_Samus entered the crater, at the end of its encountering Metroid Prime, which had become wrapped in a shell of many weapons that it had stolen from the wandering Space Pirates. Using her many beams to break apart at the shell, Samus pursued Metroid Prime to the very core of the Leviathan seed, where the creature emerged in an almost phantasmal state, its appearance mutated to the point that the only thing that could connected it to its former self being the large red brain in the center of its gelatinous body. Though her normal weaponry didn't affect the creature, Samus quickly learned that her Phazon Suit could siphon Phazon from the pools Metroid Prime created and damage the beast immensely as it was filtered out through her arm cannon. With this in mind, Samus quickly slew the beast and transformed it into a membrane filled mound of raw phazon. _

_In its final act, Metroid Prime used its tendrils to latch onto Samus' Phazon Suit and tear it off of here, reverting her to her Gravity Suit before she left the collapsing Leviathan seed. But despite the destruction of the Impact Crater and Samus' departure from Tallon IV, a new creature was born from the remnants of Metroid Prime that took on the form of Samus' armor. It was a creature of dark phazon, born with something that most other creatures of Phazon never had before…Free will. It was because of the connection to the suit of the Chozo along with the DNA of the Metroid that allowed this "Dark Samus" to act on its own wishes instead of that of its birthplace Phaaze. The first thing it desired was revenge against Samus Aran, but knew that it would never win in its weakened state…Thus Dark Samus left Tallon IV and went to the nearby planet of Aether to consume Phazon._

_In the time it took for Dark Samus to arrive, Samus had already dealt with a crisis in the Alimbic Cluster and the Space Pirates sent a convoy to investigate Aether for more deposits of Phazon. Samus herself was brought to Aether by a distress call sent by a GF squadron that was under attack on the surface. Samus Aran found herself face to face with the Ing, a powerful and deadly race that was spawned by the Leviathan seed's impact with the planet splitting it into two different dimensions. With the help of the Luminoth, Samus fought through the hordes of Ing and destroyed Dark Aether by slaying its leader, the Leviathan guardian Emperor Ing. Along the way, Samus encountered her dark counterpart three times, the Phazon copy growing stronger with every meeting until she mutated into a exoskeleton form that looked like a combination of Samus' Phazon suit and the original Metroid Prime._

_Dark Samus fought the original Samus in the decaying Dark Aether, the phazon infused monster fighting merely not to serve the will of Phaaze but rather to exact revenge against the one who killed her original body. But once again, the Phazon Dark Samus used was turned against her, ending with her body falling unconscious as Dark Aether crumbled apart and Samus Aran returned to the light realm alive and well. As the bounty hunter departed from the planet, she had little idea of the job she failed to accomplish…Through the particles of Phazon spread across space above Aether, Phaaze reconstructed Dark Samus' body, making it only part way before a departing envoy of Space Pirates snatched the Phazon from space and put it away with the rest of their acquired load._

…_A mistake they would soon regret, as Dark Samus consciously absorbed the Phazon and finished her rebirth in a new suit that looked more like the Varia Suit than the last one, corrupting and mind controlling the Space Pirate crew to do her bidding as she took they ship and invaded the G.F.S. Valhalla, ripping its Aurora Unit 313 from the ship and leaving it as nothing more than a phazon infected mess as she proceeded back to Phaaze to initiate a new plan. Using the Aurora Unit in the core of Phaaze, Dark Samus turned against her creator and gained control of the planet, using its powers in order to launch Leviathan seeds onto various planets. These seeds were stronger than those made before, amplified by Dark Samus' overabundance of Phazon to spread corruption faster across the planets they land on._

_One such planet Dark Samus planned to attack was Norion, which was very close to Galactic Federation controlled space. Her plan was to lure out the hunter Samus Aran, an effort that worked perfectly despite the loss of hundreds of her controlled Space Pirates and the damage that the space dragon Meta-Ridley endured. Ambushing Samus Aran and her fellow bounty hunters Ghor, Rundas and Gandrayda at the cannon control room of Norion, Dark Samus unleashed a devastating wave of Phazon that infected their bodies with the poison. However, the intervention of the GF forces and their PED suits prevented the Phazon from integrating too deeply into their bodies._

_It was but a minor setback though for Dark Samus' plans, as while Samus resisted the grip of Phazon the other three hunters were lost to her control after they went to investigate the Leviathans that had landed on Bryyo, Elysia, and the Pirate Homeworld. The bounty hunter traveled to these worlds to destroy the Leviathan seeds, but was also forced to kill her fellow bounty hunters in battle. Each time she slew one of them in battle, she cursed Dark Samus, the phazon monstrosity enjoying every second of Samus' pain as she also became more and more infected with each Leviathan she took down. When the Phazon empowered Omega Ridley was the last to fall, Samus was barely recognizable underneath her armor…And Dark Samus was pleased to know that soon enough her end game would be reached._

_Dark Samus wished to turn Samus Aran into a monster like her, making the bounty hunter fall in her place as the most feared and hated being in the entire universe as retribution for everything Samus had done to her before and after she became her dark copy. Once Samus was dispatched, then Dark Samus would use Leviathans to conquer the universe unopposed, the GF not knowing about the ruse she had set up until it was far too late for them to fight back. However, the unexpected happened, as with the help of a hijacked Leviathan Samus managed to create a wormhole directly to Phaaze alongside the GF armada, which combated the Space Pirates Dark Samus had near the planet in preparation for her later conquering of the universe._

_Samus Aran landed on Phaaze and went through the planet, barely clinging on to her sanity as Phazon begin to take its hold on her mind forever. With all the resistance Samus was showing though, she would instead perish once Phazon fully corrupted her body, a fact that Dark Samus was angered by yet at the same time she felt strangely sorry for what might happen to the bounty hunter. The Dark Hunter couldn't believe that it was beginning to feel…regret for someone, especially after the bounty hunter had wronged her so many times before. Little did Dark Samus know that because of the Phazon Suit she has absorbed as Metroid Prime along with the connection with the empathetic Samus Aran caused by corrupting her, Dark Samus had begun to grow a conscience…_

_But it was too late to back down, especially once Samus dropped into the sanctum core of Phaaze, bringing with her a cold fury the likes of which Dark Samus had never seen before. The bounty hunter and the dark hunter fought, and even with all the Phazon on this once sentient planet backing her up Dark Samus could not win. Feeling that these growing emotions were now holding her back, Dark Samus fused with the corrupted Aurora Unit 313, dispatching those emotions to become truly robotic as she faced down Samus Aran for what would appear to be the final time. _

_As to be expected, Samus won, destroying the Aurora Unit and causing Phaaze itself to explode without anything keeping it alive. The bounty hunter escaped, freed of corruption with Phaaze's destruction…And never again would she have to see her dark counterpart. Or so she fool heartedly believed….Though Phaaze was the originator of Phazon on the universe, its destruction only purged the poison that it itself had spread. Dark Samus' strain of Phazon was different from that of the original planet, and there was still plenty of it left in the universe…Over the next few months, that very Phazon gathered to the place of Phaaze's destruction as if guided by the will of another, including the rare orange Phazon birthed in the Impact Crater. From the swirling mesa of phazon particles…A being both old and new was born…_

**Clash of the Elements Part 4, Story 2: Desolate Corruption**

**Chapter 1: The Nightmare's Rebirth**

In the darkest depths of space, a being wanders adrift. He is barely awake, because he hasn't slept over the last three weeks he has spent traveling the universe. He can't afford to sleep, for every time he tries to close his eyes he is haunted by a single nightmare, one that causes him a massive deal of incapacitating trauma each time it returns to his head. This being is also malnourished, for he hasn't bothered to eat anything in almost a week. In fact, this very lack of care towards his body was making it harder for him to concentrate on the barrier of air that was allowing him to avoid dying as he went through space. He is the Elemental Overlord, Riku Mew, a clone of the Earth-based Elemental Overlord Mewmaster. He was tasked with traveling the universe in search of planets that are in need of assistance, but his first journey to one of these planets led to absolute disaster…

If he wanted to, Riku could recall the walls of fire and the glowing eyes of the demonic entity whose very rebirth and actions caused him this immense trauma. He cares a great deal of guilt on his conscience, for it was because of him that the hero of that world perished, plunging everything into a state of utter chaos the likes of which the teenage Overlord couldn't bear to think about as he fled from that world and left countless people to a terrifying fate. It was too late to go back though and owe up to his mistakes…In his panic and trauma he fled through space without a single idea as to where he was going, never once looking back at the planet he left behind as his heart beat rapidly in fear.

Now Riku was nothing more than a floating mess of a human being, his body flying limply through space as he has not a single clue as to what he should do next. He was so lost that he felt that he would never be able to return to Earth ever again…And even if he was able to, how could he? He would have to face his brother and tell him about the grand mistake he made, and how he doomed an entire world because of his failure as an Elemental Overlord and as a living being…And what did Riku even gain from his travels on that world? He looks at his hands, feeling the vast, empty energies of darkness flowing through him as he curses it for putting him through all this trouble in the first place…In his current emotional state, he doesn't even think about the fact that Mew never told him about this darkness along with the fact that his memories deceived him about the elements he was capable of using.

In the end, the teenage Overlord was nothing more than a vegetable, a barely functional human being that one has to wonder just how he is capable of even moving let alone travel through the lonely depths of space. But little did Riku know, he would soon be greeted with some company…And not the pleasant type either. As he continues to stare at his hands, the teenage Overlord notices something odd floating around him. Tiny, light blue particles that clearly had sentience began to grow in numbers around his body, infiltrating through his veil of air at a rapid pace. Riku begins to panic, flinching awake in a matter of seconds as he feels the particles crawling across his skin and climbing up his arms towards his shoulders and neck.

These particles were attempting to invade the teenage Overlord's body through the mouth, and in his sudden state of panic Riku fails to recall just why these particles looked familiar to him. He was too focused on trying to expel them from his skin, using his air barrier to forcibly push all of those particles away from him with a thought before he flies back a bit to escape the newly created cloud of light blue particles. But before he can draw forth his weapon and fight, the cloud charges straight at him, bunching together and forming a sharp thin strain that weaves its way through the veil and pushes itself into Riku's mouth, digging through his esophagus and into his gullet so quickly that the teenage Overlord blinks only once before the events finish.

He then lets out a raspy hack, his right hand pounding against his chest as pain ruptures through it thanks to the violent infiltration of those mysterious particles, but after two more seconds his heart performs one violent, heavy beat as his eyes widen and his pupils shrink. Suddenly, without any other prior warning, Riku's body begins to slip into unconsciousness, with the legs going limp and his body falling backwards as his arms grow stiff and hang out in space beside him. However, his eyelids remain eerily open, his mouth partially agape as he looks up. Not long after he falls unconscious, a large Olympus-Class battleship begins to fly above his body, noticing the oddity that was this barely living human body floating in the unlivable depths of space and swiftly using their tractor beam to pull the unconscious Riku onboard so they can determine just how and why this human was here. This battleship, known far and wide across this galaxy, was called the G.F.S. Olympus…

_Next Time: The Two Hunters_

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**Author's Note:**

**I would like to apologize right now for having the first chapter of this story be filled with a ton of lore and only about a page worth of actual story progression, but I'm trying to make it so this story can still be followed by those who haven't played Metroid before yet still want to follow on from the previous entry. At the same time though, I've also chosen to be vague about what happened in the previous entry so anyone who starts with this story doesn't end up being spoiled completely. This won't be become a recurring thing with the other stories, especially not the next two, so don't worry about that.  
**

**As usual, I urge readers to review so I can know what I'm doing right and wrong here. Besides that though, enjoy.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

I'm going to try something a little new for my fics and make some paragraphs less cluttered and dialogue easier to identify. I'll see how well it works for a few chapters and choose whether or not I want to keep it. As usual, let me know what you think.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Dark Hunter Returns**

_A steady heartbeat echoes through the darkness, a blue pulse ricocheting through the confines of Riku's mind as he lies unconscious. The heartbeat starts increasing in speed, pumping faster as various images flash in the boy's head between each colored pulse. He starts off recalling the last moments of his journey in the previous world, with a sword impaling itself through the chest of a swordsman whose identity the teenage Overlord is trying to forget. He then sees a technologically advanced battleship bathed in explosions and fire on the docking bay as an armored figure walks out with an arm cannon aimed at a similarly armored being. Fast forward to a unspecified dates, and Riku watches as multiple monstrosities fizzle into existence, culminating in a draconic creature roaring loudly as it struggles to maintain a single identity. Finally, Riku sees himself standing in the core of a crimson, oozing planet with the antagonistic armored figure standing still with its hands wrapped around its helmet, and as it starts to depressurize the heartbeat beats at a dangerous rate as the pulse begins to gain a root-like border that spreads out across the mind…_

Suddenly, Riku wakes up in a panic, and as he feels as though his heart it going to rip out from his chest he tries to pull himself up. However, his arms are bound against a slanted steel table by powerful metal straps, and those along with a heavily armored metal suit that is encased around his body prevent him from breaking free at the moment. His face is the only part that remains uncovered, possibly because someone was planning on examining him through there. The teenage Overlord quickly scans the room before an emergency siren goes off inside. He catches a glimpse of a sealed medical chamber to the left through which a female nurse covered in a space-age protective aquamarine latex suit notices his awakening and quickly rises to her feet, holding her arm out towards Riku and saying a few words that the teenage Overlord cannot hear as he shifts focus onto his right arm and increases his strength to the point that he is able to tear the strap clean off.

From there Riku does the same thing to the left strap, pulling his body forward so he can tear the leg straps off and slide off of the table and onto his feet. He was clearly both angered and confused by just why he was strapped to a table against his will and stuck in a space marine's suit of armor, which after a second glimpse Riku finds it odd that the coloring of it consists of red, orange, and yellow like his flames usually tend to be. Its not like a ship that has this type of monochrome interior design would carry this type of armor around, right? But the teenage Overlord didn't really have it in him to try and figure this problem out, for with a scowl on his cold sweating face he watches as the nurse rushes out from her protective chamber long enough to slam her fist against a glowing light-blue hard light switch to activate the defense systems in the room.

Immediately afterwards two turrets descend from the ceiling, each of the thick wires they drape from surrounded by a laser wall that is shaped like a funnel. They aim themselves at Riku, their wide oval-shaped barrels ready to fire at a moment's notice if they detect any sudden movements. The teenage Overlord glares up at the nurse, in his current state of lunacy extending his right hand through the air in an attempt to draw forth his sword into battle. But instead of a sword being summoned, his armored right arm from the tip of his fingers to the end of his lower arm is surrounded by a digital, burning red outline that eventually summons forth a twin-barreled cybernetic cannon that merges completely with the metal armor, a faded dark red glow appearing across many creases on the weapon as Riku stares at it in surprise.

But this surprise isn't noted by the nurse, who from the safety of her chamber watches as the turrets build up energy in their barrels before firing a sharp red beam towards Riku. Despite his current emotional state, the teenage Overlord's reflexes are still sharp enough to give him a chance to roll out of the way of the turrets' attacks, and with his current strength level the bulk of the armor doesn't prove to be too much of a problem for him as he gets on one knee and points his new weapon at the closest turret. With his fingers gripped around a straight-line trigger inside of the cannon, Riku watches a shot of concentrated red plasma is launched at from the right barrel at one of the turrets, striking inside of the metal barrel and blowing it up almost instantly, much to the surprise of the on looking nurse.

The teenage Overlord, in all honesty, doesn't actually know how to use his weapon at the moment. His warrior's instinct is in control right now, and its using the double-barreled gun potently as it quickly fires another red plasma shot from the left barrel to take out the second turret. But the defense system wasn't done yet, as a siren blares through the reddened room and an alarm declares

"Activating level 2 GMX-04 Halberd-class turret. Lay down your arms now." A fair warning was given to Riku as two more turrets descend, the guns themselves now defended by a stronger shield.

The teenage Overlord, still guided by his instinct, stands up and leaps to the left, putting himself straight behind both turrets just after they fire a fast, purple beam from their guns. With a prolonged tug on the trigger of his new weapon, Riku feels as both of the barrels heat up and the glowing lines brighten beyond the scope of the weapon itself until the trigger is released, at which point the glow fades as two large plasma shots pierce through the air, homing in on the heat signatures of the turrets and melting right through their defenses as if they were nothing and burning the turrets themselves down to cinders. However, this will prove to be a foolish mistake, for the defense system had one sure-fire trick up its sleeve to deal with the hostile.

"Level 3 GMX-04 Halberd-class turret activated. You have been warned, aggressor…" The defense system said, deploying two more incredibly defended turrets as steel plating is spread across all the windows in this room to protect those observing from beyond.

After seeing the might of his charged attack, Riku snaps out of his instinctive trance and looks at his smoking barrels in disbelief, as it was in that moment that he realizes something far too late "Plasma beams? Space marine suits? Halberd-class turrets? I must be in-…Wait, Level 3 has been deployed?" The teenage Overlord looks up at the turrets as energy is slowly charged up within the barrels, which crack apart as they prove barely capable of containing the energy needed to perform their next action.

Riku's eyes widen, but before he gets a chance to react further he is bombarded twice over with a powerful, swirling orange blast that spreads across the entire room and sears the teenage Overlord's body to the core. With pain thrusting out across multiple nerves, Riku tries to draw on his elemental powers, using the flame one in particular to summon forth a barrier that protects him from the remainder of the turrets' onslaught. But alas, even when the bombardment of seething energy comes to an end and Riku drops his shield he finds that the initial damage he took was more than enough to lay waste to his consciousness, and as his new weapon vanishes along with his strength the teenage Overlord falls to the ground with a heavy thud. The last thing he sees before he descends into unconsciousness being the nurse emerging from her chamber.

But this time he doesn't dream about anything, nor is he disturbed by events of what's yet to come. He wakes up an undetermined amount of time later, his eyelids slowly creaking open as he hears two muffled voices speaking to one another. One person was the nurse Riku saw earlier, who is trying to calmly explain things to a military officer wearing a swamp green metallic suit and a cap that signified that he was a high-ranking officer aboard this ship. As his hearing starts to return to normal, the teenage Overlord hears the officer proclaim to the nurse "What do you mean you can't figure out what's going on here?!" His tone is angered, but it seems to be more out of confusion than because of how he feels towards the nurse herself.

With a stalwart demeanor, the nurse stands before the man and says to him "Its as I said sir…Despite being afflicted with Phazon, his fire shield was not derived from that source…No matter how many times I've scanned his body, I cannot pinpoint the source of his fire-based powers. And he isn't an alien, unless there is a shape shifting species out there that can control fire. He's human, just like you and me."

The officer scoffs, folding his arms behind his body as he turns towards the dazed Riku and says in a calmer voice "Human or not, he's infected with Phazon…God knows how or why he ended up with that in his body, but this does not bode well for us if that accursed plague has returned…"

The nurse, with a holographic display set in front of her hands, then says to the officer as she taps and moves data across the display "Admiral Dane…I also neglected to mention something about this boy."

The Admiral turns his head towards the nurse, his wrinkled eyebrows lifting up as he asks "What is it?" As though any further news couldn't even make him flinch after knowing about Phazon's return.

"When we recovered him and brought him aboard the ship, he was floating in the depths of space alone without any armor or the wreckage of a ship in his vicinity." Upon hearing what the nurse had to say, Admiral Dane glares at her, turning back towards Riku's fainted body as he mutters out "Just what are you, kid?"

The teenage Overlord then chooses to full awaken, his eyelids blinking a few times as he lets out a light groan and the Admiral and nurse react with a light flinch on their faces. Riku lifts his head up, realizing that the armor is still attached to his body seeing how hard it is for him to get himself upright. With a second groan, Riku asks in a tired, melancholy tone "W-Where am I?"

Though the terms and names the teenage Overlord has heard has helped him identify just what world, or rather galaxy, he has ended up in, he feigns ignorance on the subject…But as he lies to the Admiral memories of what happened before when he held back knowledge are triggered, and Riku has to work quickly to suppress them while gritting his teeth in order to pretend as though he was in pain. Admiral Dane sternly yet kindly says to this mysterious boy "Don't try and force yourself up yet son, you took quite a beating from our turrets."

After voicing his concerns towards the boy, Admiral Dane holds his arms beside his hips and introduces himself "I am Fleet Admiral Dane, and you are currently aboard the G.F.S. Olympus, one of the mightiest battleships in the entirety of the Galactic Federation armada."

Riku nods his head, showing that he understands the Admiral's words before Dane goes on to ask "I know you just awoke son, but would you mind telling me who you are?"

The teenage Overlord, in a melancholy tone of voice, responds to the Admiral with "…My name is Riku Mew…I'm a human from the planet Earth…" It was a short answer simply because he couldn't bring himself to reveal his identity as the Elemental Overlord.

After the boy introduced himself, Dane nodded towards the nurse, who used her holographic data to check the human population on Earth, running a search on the names of every single one of them in search of Riku's only to draw a blank as the holographic screen goes red with a piercing blare. The Admiral then turns back towards this mysterious boy and says to him in a stern, suspecting voice "Just what to do you mean when you say 'Earth'?"

Riku was surprised that the Admiral was able to figure out that he wasn't from the Earth from this galaxy, and with no way to lie out of this situation the teenage Overlord decides to say with little hesitance in his voice as he gazes to the left away from the two figures "…Well you see, there's another Earth in this universe besides the one the humans in this galaxy originate from…I don't know how that works, but I'm not lying when I tell you this. I come from that second Earth…"

The Admiral Dane was happy with how cooperative the boy was being now, but he still was suspicious of a few things. Though the pressing matter of Phazon needed to be addressed, there was another thing that concerned the Admiral and made him hesitant to talk about the corrosive material, and with a firm glare Dane asks "And just how did you end up at our galaxy?"

Riku grits his teeth gently, for he doesn't want to tell his entire tale to the Admiral after all that had happened. Instead, he gives a simplified answer "…I'm not like the rest of the humans on my planet…And likely not like any human on your Earth either. I'm the Elemental Overlord, a gu-" The boy stops himself before he labels himself a savior of good, for he feels he isn't worthy of that title anymore. Instead he continues beyond what he was going to say, telling Dane that "Simply put, I can control all elements from fire to wind…Specifically, it was my control over wind that allows me to travel through space without worrying about my body being compressed in its cold vacuum…"

"…So that explains the plasma shots you fired at our turrets earlier." Admiral Dane says with intrigue in his voice. Riku, recalling what he did despite his instincts being in control, quickly lifts his head up and says with apologetic eyes "I'm so sorry about destroying your turrets. I was just in a panic be-"

The Admiral raises his hand to stop the boy, grinning slightly while telling him in a firm, understanding tone "Relax, you were just unaware of your surroundings from the sound of things. You didn't try to harm anyone on board, otherwise we would have labeled you a criminal and thrown you into the brig…Not that I'd imagine that doing any good. Speaking of which, the nurse told me that you were able to summon forth a weapon from thin air. That's a normal feature on the PED Suits, so I'm guessing you are able to do that on your own somehow?"

Riku nods at Dane's question, but clarifies to him "I generally summon a sword though for combat…The gun is new to me, but I think it has something to do with the armor you put on me." The Admiral hums to himself, brushing his right hand towards the nurse to command her to leave the room so he can speak to the boy by himself. With a nod and a dispelling of the holographic screen, the nurse departs and Dane looks back at Riku with a more stern glare.

"We need to talk about that armor of yours, actually." Dane's words made Riku realize just what was to come next, and though he knew everything that was going to be said he kept himself from stopping the Admiral. With his arms folded behind his back, Dane said to the teenage Overlord "What you are wearing is a PED Suit. It is designed to take the Phazon that's being produced in your body and allow you to utilize it in combat at the cost of some of your life energy…I would assume you don't know what Phazon is, right?"

That piercing question was one that Riku hated to lie in response to, but he nodded his head without making it clear that he knew about Phazon. The Admiral then explains to the boy "Phazon is, for all intents and purposes, a highly radioactive substance that digs into whatever it damn well pleases and slowly corrupts it…In your case, Phazon spores have begun growing inside of your body and are slowly working to turn you into a slave under their will. The PED Suit is suppressing the spores as much as it can, but unless we figure out the source of Phazon's return and destroy it we will have no choice but to activate the kill switch on your suit and terminate your life."

Admiral Dane was stern and honest about the consequences of Phazon's existence inside of Riku, but the teenage Overlord doesn't seem too concerned for his own life as he nonchalantly says "I'm surprised you know so much about Phazon", trying to keep up the charade of incompetence in regards to this world as Dane replies "Well you aren't the first person to be corrupted like this…If you were, the nurse would be explaining all of this to you instead of me. Hopefully though, you will be the second person to survive this ordeal…"

Riku then asks Dane "Do you have any idea on how to stop Phazon?" The Admiral scoffs, turning away from the boy and saying in a somewhat angered voice "At this point we don't even know how the damn thing even came back. Months back a bunch of troops under my division along with one of the most famous bounty hunters in our galaxy attacked the source of Phazon, a sentient planet by the name of Phaaze, and obliterated it. That should have been the end of Phazon, but it seems there was something we missed…"

The Admiral then turns back to face Riku and says with a finger brandished at him and a confident smirk on his wrinkled face "But we aren't going to submit to Phazon like the filthy plague it truly is! Oh no, we've dealt with this kind of problem once before and we are prime and ready to put this poison down for good this time. Of course, we need to find the new source of Phazon first, but we have already called someone in who has dealt with this problem three times before."

Riku tilts his head slightly as Dane pulls his body back, and in a blunt voice he asks "Its that famous bounty hunter you mentioned before, isn't it?" The Admiral nods his head, and as he extends his right arm beside himself he says "Yep. You see, S-" Before he can name the bounty hunter, a powerful siren wails inside of the room, causing the Admiral to briefly flinch as the room glows dark red to signify immense danger as a soldier wearing a similar suit to Riku but without the Phazon Enhancement Device and a grey-ish tint runs in through the door and after a brief salute says to Dane "Admiral, we are under attack! An intruder has emerged on the docking bay and is currently engaging our troops. We need you down there to issue orders, pronto!"

The soldier rushes out upon seeing the Admiral nod, and as Dane prepares to leave the medical ward he turns back towards Riku as he notices the boy trying to push himself off of the bed "Don't leave your bed son, we can handle this threat on our own. Just try and get some rest and stay safe in here."

After the Admiral leaves the room, Riku sits at the edge of the bed with feet hung over the side as he thinks about what is happening in this galaxy. This wasn't like what happened in the previous world he visited, these events were completely unfamiliar to him…Which means that there was a very high chance that the Admiral and the GF Troops might not be able to repel whoever is attacking the ship. The teenage Overlord saw a chance to redeem himself after his failure in the last world, and with eager eyes he kicked himself off of the bed with a thud and summoned forth his gun in his right hand. He then aimed at the energy-shield on the door and blasted it with a light plasma shot to dispel it and allow the door itself to split apart in three directions, giving him free passage into the hallways of the G.F.S. Olympus.

He rushes down the technologically advanced hallways with a great deal of urgency, holding his double-barreled weapon in front of him as he kept his weight balanced and shot at every door he came across to make his way clear. He recalled the layout of the battleship's innards, and with that map in mind he quickly navigates his way towards the docking bay to engage the intruder. The last doors he goes through comes after a long metal bridge, the width of the door itself being bigger than that of those the teenage Overlord had gone through before. But though things had been relatively peaceful up until now, the moment Riku pushes through the door he finds himself in the center of a war zone between the GF Troopers and the intruder on the decks of the G.F.S. Olympus. There are many explosions flying across the room thanks to crimson streams of raw energy blowing up the crates spread across the area, and all of them obscure the sight of the grand vastness of space beyond the bridge. A few GF Troopers have been downed, and it was impossible to tell if they were dead or merely unconsciousness. Another foreboding sign was that a few Level 3 Halberd-class turrets have been obliterated by these streams of energy, something that the nearby Admiral Dane simply scoffs at as he commands his troops to keep firing on the enemy. From the looks of things, the Galactic Federation was using all of the firepower available on the ship to pin down the intruder, and the scary part was that they were being easily dealt with by the streams of energy bolts surging from the eastern part of the deck where the enemy currently stands.

Riku turns towards the right and faces the source of destruction, noticing an array of crimson extensions thrusting across the sky from behind a wall of fire and broken crates where two figures are seen fighting behind it, both their body frames nearly identical in appearance. The second figure, obviously the aggressor of their fight, floats above the ground and aims its right arm at the first person, unleashing a missile that the first being has to back flip to dodge as it impacts with the ground and creates a large blue phazon spike that is pointed diagonally towards the ceiling with many other toxic spikes protruding from around the surface. The person meant to be impaled through the spike flips out from behind the veil of fire, allowing Riku to get a good look at them. It was the bounty hunter that Admiral Dane had mentioned, the person being adorned in a dull tone orange and yellow suit of armor with a pointed, broad red chest plate and rounded shoulders. The bounty hunter kneels on the ground, stabilized by the curved metallic points at the knees as they point their sleek, cylindrical arm cannon at the fire, the barrel splitting apart in four directions as raw power is charged inside. The person's face is protected from the fire by a rounded helmet that conforms perfectly to their head's proportions while constantly providing the lungs with oxygen through two pipes near the mouth. A lime-green visor covers their face, but Riku didn't need to look past it to see just who the bounty hunter truly was.

With the energy primed and ready the bounty hunter fires a perfect sphere of glowing energy towards the fire, shattering the Phazon crystal instantly as the GF Troopers duck out of the way to avoid being punctured by the flying shards. The bounty hunter then rises to their feet, looking past the fire as a figure shadowed by the cresting, crackling flames slowly hovers into full view, taking their right hand into the air like a possessed puppet and converting its mass into that of an arm cannon similar to the one its opponent has only with a more pointed lip. Riku takes a long look at the figure and though he recognizes the body composition, the coloring of the being is different than what he recalls. The being's coloring nearly mimics that of the bounty hunter's armor, only the tone is brighter and the armor itself appears to be more organic in nature in contrast to the metallic origin of the bounty hunter's suit. And though Riku can get a clear look at the being's visor, he can only see a blank, bright green light instead of their face.

The hunter clad in crimson aims their arm cannon at their polar opposite, Phazon being charged in the splitting barrel as the original bounty hunter charges their arm cannon. Riku didn't have a good feeling in the pit of his gut as he watched the two hunters prepare to engage themselves, and without thinking straight he leaps from the front of the door over Admiral Dane's head to land on the ground a few feet away from the hunter clad in crimson. As the Admiral goes "What the-" in response to Riku's response the teenage Overlord takes his double-barreled weapon and fires upon the evil hunter with a continuous barrage of plasma shots, disrupting that being's charge and causing the other hunter to react with stoic surprise and confusion.

The hunter clad in crimson flinches with each hit delivered onto its body, and halfway through the barrage it begins to turn towards its assailant and summons forth a thin barrier of Phazon around it to protect itself from the assault as a haunting glare pierces through its visor and strikes itself deep into Riku's unflinching pupils. The evil hunter then glances to the right and notices the hesitating bounty hunter recharging her arm cannon to attack once more to strike while it is vulnerable. But the dark hunter looks back at the teenage Overlord as its body continues to be pushed off the edge of the docking bay by the plasma shots, and with a haunting whisper the being speaks into Riku's mind through the Phazon growing inside of him _"You are one with me now…What you have…I shall rob you of…" _

The teenage Overlord pauses, his eyes widening as the evil hunter turns its arm cannon back to a regular hand and drapes the back of it towards its polar opposite, holding the other backhand towards the boy as it hangs limply in the air. In a second, the hands flip upward, through the organic fingertips emerge a series of root-shaped tendrils that thrusts across the skies and ingrain themselves into the bounty hunter's armor and Riku's body. The pain gripping itself across the teenage Overlord's nerves is all too familiar, and its something that the bounty hunter doesn't have to suffer through as its dark counterpart merely reaches deep into the armor itself and digs into the various functions it is capable of performing.

After a few seconds of prolonged agony on Riku's part, the dark hunter tears its tendrils right out of him and the bounty hunter, their existences vanishing and being replaced with many translucent spheres of pure Phazon that wrap themselves around various gadgets taken from the hunter's armor and spiritual embodiments of many of Riku's elemental powers, the spheres themselves forming two rings around the dark hunter's body as its arms go limp besides its body and its floats higher into the air, flying backwards into the depths of space without saying a single word to the two it just incapacitated.

Riku falls to his knees, fighting against the desire to fall back into unconsciousness as he plants his left hand and the lip of his weapon against the steel floor to balance himself. He turns towards the bounty hunter, whose armor is trying to perform repairs after losing many of its crucial functions, and says with a bit of weariness and nonchalance in his voice "So…Nice to meet you, Samus Aran…"

The bounty hunter turns towards the boy, the malfunctions causing her visor to lose some of its solidness and make her cold, piercing glare all the more clear towards Riku. The teenage Overlord knew then and there that he hadn't made a good first impression on the famous Samus Aran, and after what the one known as Dark Samus just did this would not prove to be a good thing for either one of them in the long run. Riku turns away from Samus, chuckling nervously to himself as he looks down at his reflection in the steel floor and sees that his eyes have started to gain a pale-blue tint, signifying that the corruption of his body via Phazon had begun to take hold…

_Next Time: Reluctant Alliance_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Samus Aran**

It has been a couple of hours since Dark Samus attacked the G.F.S. Olympus for unknown reasons, her return shaking even some of the braver GF Troopers along with leaving a permanent scowl on Admiral Dane's face as he left the docking bay to go plan everyone's next move. Riku has been sitting on a single surviving crate in the docking bay after recovering from having some of his elements torn from his body by the Dark Hunter, a process that happened surprisingly faster than the last time such an event occurred despite him losing more elements this time around. He had spent some time trying to figure out how to check and see what he still had, since this armor and gun of his is still relatively new to him. By now though, he has figured out how to cycle through his beams with his thoughts, and says to himself "So I still have my Fire, Light and Dark elements…"

Riku sighs, lifting his vision away from the gun as he murmurs to himself "Makes sense I suppose…Those three elements at least have a regular beam variation in the Metroid universe."

After twiddling his fingers a bit near the trigger of his double-barreled gun, the teenage Overlord looks around, checking on the progress of the GF Workers as they reconstruct the damaged turrets and walls of the docking bay. He pays attention to their equipment, which uses precision lasers and other incomprehensible technology to assist the workers in their job. Riku lets out another sigh, saying to himself quietly "First I go to a world whose technological level is far below what I'm used to…And then I end up in a world that's too advanced for my liking."

From the way Riku spoke right now, one would have to assume that he had gotten over his trauma with an unnatural amount of speed…That's not true in the slightest. He merely has become focused on another matter, and that is the revival of Dark Samus and the sudden spawning of Phazon in his body that has already begun to change the tint of his eyes to that of a pale-ish blue. As he thinks about this puzzling conundrum, the teenage Overlord averts his gaze away from the GF Workers and looks towards the lone platform beyond the edge of the docking bay, where the armored bounty hunter Samus Aran can be seen checking up on her hunter-class Gunship.

The ship itself has a sharp, pointed front with a window similar to that of Samus' visor. Its got the same colors as the hunter's armor, and is currently standing on four legs that were created from the usually torpedo-like wings of the ship itself. A rounded platform big enough for Samus to stand on is extended from the bottom of the ship, and can basically be considered as the only way for anyone to enter the ship naturally. Riku wanted to go over and check up on Samus, mostly to see just what functions of the Varia Suit the hunter had lost thanks to Dark Samus, but as he slowly lifted his body off of the crate he just as quickly sat back down and let his hesitation get the better of him. He then thinks to himself "I can't go near her…"

It wasn't because of Samus' maturity or her gender that Riku hesitated to fly over behind the hunter and check up on her…No, it was because of that cold, piercing glare that represented the hunter's first impression of him that stopped him from going. Samus Aran clearly cared little for Riku's unneeded bravado against Dark Samus, especially since his sudden appearance distracted the hunter enough for her dark counterpart to take advantage of the situation and weaken both combatants with relative ease. But the way things were, Riku needed to be able to cooperate with Samus, especially since compared to the last world he went to this situation is incredibly foreign to him, and seeing as the hunter has been weakened he needs to be by her side until she can get her strength back up…And even then, who knows if she would be able to confront the changed Dark Samus alone.

From what little Riku saw of the now crimson-clad hunter, he could tell that it had been changed from its original self, becoming more resilient to attacks while its own were more brutal in nature. Dark Samus had become more of a juggernaut than anything else, and considering what the dark hunter was capable of beforehand this filled the teenage Overlord with a foreboding sense of dread. "…Perhaps I should try and earn Samus' trust right now. Otherwise…"

As Riku lets his thoughts sink into grim territory, he recalls the imagery of his last failure, and his chest muscles become tight as pain thrusts itself through his head and his breathing becomes heavier. Placing one hand on his chest while trying to gain control over his trauma, the teenage Overlord slowly pushes these gruesome thoughts from his mine and replaces them all with false optimism…But because the trauma has not been conquered, it will continue to plague him so long as he goes back to that line of thinking. With his desire to speak to Samus having now subsided, the teenage Overlord thinks to himself "…I wonder what we are going to do now."

"_Attention all personnel. Samus Aran and the one called Riku Mew have been requested to appear before Fleet Admiral Dane in the command room, the rest of you may continue with your designated tasks…" _A female, almost robotic voice speaks through the ship's intercoms, causing everyone beside Samus to pause and lift their heads up to listen to the voice. Riku knows who is speaking. It was the 242nd Aurora Unit, a biological supercomputer designed to help run the G.F.S. Olympus. The teenage Overlord, upon recognizing the voice, thinks to himself "You'd think the Galactic Federation would have shut down the Aurora Units after what Dark Samus did the last time…"

As he questions the misguided folly of the Galactic Federation, Riku hears someone slowly walking along the docking bay to the left of him and immediately turns, seeing the statuesque Samus Aran walking towards the widened doors that lead to the command room she had been asked to head towards. She slows down for a moment, turning her head towards the armored boy and as he gives her a meek, awkward smile as a means of apology due to a lack of courage to speak directly to her, the bounty hunter gives him yet another cold glare and looks on ahead, walking away without saying a single word as Riku lowers his head in front of him and sighs, his eyelids sagging as he mutters to himself in a berating tone "What the hell kind of attempt at an apology was that Riku?"

But despite how annoyed he was at his own lack of courage towards Samus, Riku calmly rose to his feet and swung his right arm around in the air, the metal joints of his armor creaking as he dispelled his weapon and said to himself "Shouldn't waste any time around here…I need to get to the command room stat."

With a wiggle of his shoulders afterwards, Riku turned towards the door after Samus had gone through it, following her close enough behind that she won't hear his footsteps as they traverse the metallic layout of the G.F.S. Olympus and eventually enter a lone, circular room near the front of the ship. Inside, Admiral Dane stands before a digital pillar that shows a holographic projection of the Aurora Unit on the ship, revealing it to be a type of mechanical brain with a few wires extending out from the bottom of its body. It floated up and down, hinting that on the other side of the hologram it was stuck in a life-support chamber.

But Riku didn't make note of this aloud as Admiral Dane quickly addressed him and Samus with a stern "I'm glad you two survived the encounter with Dark Samus, despite some obvious interference…"

The Admiral glared over at Riku, though his stare didn't seem as cold rather than it did disappointed in the teenage Overlord's actions during that battle. After making his appreciation towards their survival known, Dane went on to say "But we don't have time to waste standing around here. Aurora Unit, if you wouldn't mind…"

The Admiral steps aside, jabbing his fingers towards the hologram to pass off exposition duties to the Aurora Unit as Riku walks around behind Samus and stands beside her to get a better spot to listen to the supercomputer. He doesn't notice the bounty hunter glance to the left for a brief moment to make note of his presence, mostly because he doesn't want to look her way while the Aurora Unit speaks. _"As you may have noticed already Samus, Phazon has returned through undisclosed means along with its most recent propagator, your Phazon produced counterpart. We do not know why it attacked the G.F.S. Olympus on its own, but we have noted the infiltration of your armor's systems and can confirm to you that you have not been infected with Phazon again. Presumably, surviving having mass quantities of Phazon inside of you the last time has left you completely immune to any variation of Phazon in the known universe."_

Riku can hear Samus let out a quiet, relieved breath upon being notified of this news, but then the Aurora Unit continues on and the bounty hunter becomes silent _"However, this does not decrease the gravity of this problem…For you see, Dark Samus had already taken action long before her attack on the Olympus." _Immediately after saying that, a ring of several planets appears in front of the Aurora Unit, each of them containing a light-blue glow around them. _"Dark Samus has re-infected many planets with Phazon, along with adding one she hadn't touched before to her collection…You should be able to recognize it on the map."_

Samus pauses, and through the visor Riku is able to notice the stoic look of shock on her face, and for the first time in his presence the bounty hunter says in a tone of cold realization "…Zebes."

"_That is correct…Zebes was the first world that Dark Samus targeted upon her return, and worst of all the corruption is spreading at a much faster rate than it did for the other worlds when we first came in contact with Phazon. Samus Aran, as someone who has survived multiple encounters with Phazon, we are hiring you once more to stop Dark Samus and hopefully end the threat of Phazon for good. We are aware of how much you have lost thanks to the dark hunter's attack, but your newfound immunity to Phazon should prove to be a most useful advantage until you regain your full arsenal. So, Samus Aran, will you accept this mission?"_

The bounty hunter doesn't hesitate and nods her head, and the Aurora Unit says to her _"Very well. You will be paid for your services after everything is said and done. We wish you the best of luck out there, Samus…Before you go though, we would suggest picking up one of our spare missile launchers in the weapons bay, since we know that's one of the things Dark Samus took from you." _

Samus Aran nods her head out of thanks and turns around, departing from the room without another word as Riku faces Admiral Dane and asks politely "So what did you want me for Admiral?"

The Admiral raises his right eyebrow, looking down at the boy before standing before the hologram of the Aurora Unit and giving a signal to tell it that it was no longer required to be here. After it vanishes, Dane says to Riku in a stern tone of urgency "We don't have long until Samus gets the Missile Launcher, so I need to make this quick."

"First off, I want to point out that it was both reckless and almost suicidal to confront Dark Samus the way you did, and you are lucky to have escaped with your life!" Dane goes on the aggressive, exclaiming his disappointment towards Riku whose heart quickly skips a beat yet his body only flinches in shock as he hears the Admiral out. Dane coughs, calming himself down before saying in a stern yet somewhat tender voice "However, I do appreciate that you tried to help us out in spite of the condition of your body. For that son, you have my thanks."

"You're welcome, sir." Riku smiles and nods out of respect towards the Admiral's heartfelt compliment. "Don't mention it." Dane then says in turn.

After another cough, the Admiral realizes how much time he is wasting taking pause and says to Riku with a fully stern voice "I noticed that Dark Samus took some things from you as well. As I can imagine, you will be wanting to get those things back, right?"

The teenage Overlord nods his head, and with arms folded behind his back Dane goes on to say "You aren't a bounty hunter, you aren't a soldier of the Galactic Federation…Hell, you don't even have any records in our galaxy…But despite all of that, I feel as though I can trust you. So this is my personal mission for you to undertake kid. Partner up with Samus Aran and go to all of the Phazon infected planets to find the source of Phazon there and destroy it. I will not be your mission commander though…The Aurora Unit and I will be taking up that role for Samus herself, though admittedly we will just be briefing her on where to go next. You will be getting your own mission commander, and you shall be hearing from him before you take off."

The Admiral then turns around and picks up something from behind the hologram projector, turning around and handing it over to Riku. It was a GF Trooper helmet that had been custom-designed to match the colors of his armor only with a dark shade to it. The visor is shaped like the symbol of the Galactic Federation on Admiral Dane's cap, and the helmet itself is big enough to be placed around Riku's head. As the teenage Overlord takes the helmet from Dane and looks down at it, the Admiral says "There is a comm. Link inside of the helmet that is connected to your mission commander's line and only his, though I would assume that you can figure out how to connect it to Samus' helmet if she allows it."

Riku nods his head out of thanks, but before he puts the helmet on Admiral Dane coughs in a nervous manner and asks him "…By the way, there is something I'd thought I'd point out." The teenage Overlord turns to face the Admiral, and he proceeds to say "When we equipped you with the PED Suit, we were surprised to hear a voice coming from it that said 'Grapple Beam Online'…Do you know why that is?"

As Dane raised his eyebrows out of suspicion and intrigue, Riku sunk his head low as he immediately realized just why his armor was outfitted with a Grapple Beam. He thinks back to past events, when the one he failed to save gave him a gadget with a hook on it that could be used to grapple from one area to another…It wasn't as advanced as the grappling technology of this world, but it got the job done all the same. Riku had forgotten all about having that gadget on him, and though he had to wonder how it became a part of his armor he was more distracted with the trauma his recollection gave him as he quickly shook his head and responded to Admiral Dane with a firm "Yeah, I may have an idea or two about that…"

Riku wanted to leave quickly before Dane became too aware of his emotional issues, so with a false smile the teenage Overlord tightened the helmet around his head and said with an echoed voice through the visor "Thanks for your help sir, it does not go unappreciated. But if you'll excuse me, I need to catch up to Samus."

Riku gives one salute to Admiral Dane and turns around, departing from the command room and running down the long hallway with his metal armor clanking against the ground with each step for a good few minutes until he nears the docking bay, at which he sees Samus slowly walking along the bridge before the wide doorway. The teenage Overlord extends his right hand out, calling out the bounty hunter's name to grab her attention as he begins to sprint towards her. Samus turns around a bit, but upon noticing the boy she looks on ahead and continues walking, caring little about his presence until he forces it upon her by running front of her body. The bounty hunter stops in place and stares down towards him, though this time the coldness of her glare is diluted by the visor on Riku's face.

Standing firmly in front of the bounty hunter while panting a couple of times to catch his breath, Riku looks up at the statuesque Samus and says to her "Don't get too ahead of yourself Samus…You can't leave here without your new partner!" Riku cheerfully points to himself, and the bounty hunter dryly responds with "…Partner?" After a momentary pause, Samus walks around this mysterious boy's body and says to him "No thank you." In as cold and blunt of a tone as she can muster.

The bounty hunter then heads out through the wide doors behind the teenage Overlord, and Riku nervously chuckles while trying to say in a serious tone to Samus "I bet you think I'm joking Samus, but I'm dead serious."

Riku rushes ahead to catch up with Samus, and after decreasing his pace to walk beside her the bounty hunter she glances to the right and says in a truly serious voice "I know you are serious…The answer is still no." As the teenage Overlord stands in place for a moment and watches Samus walk off, the boy finds it hard to believe that the bounty hunter was really this stoic yet still had a feminine tone in her voice.

But while he was thinking about the nature of Samus' cold demeanor and voice, Riku blurts out to the bounty hunter "You know, considering how much I know about you, I don't understand why you have such a problem with me."

The teenage Overlord runs on ahead as Samus crosses the bridge to her gunship, and the bounty hunter responds with "I assure you, you know nothing about me."

Riku pauses for a moment, taking Samus' response as a type of challenge as he folds his arms in front of his chest and with a burst of speed quickly overtakes the bounty hunter and stands right in front of her, taking her surprisingly off-guard as she quickly assumes him to be an enemy due to his sudden appearance and raises her arm cannon at him before recognizing him and lowering it. Riku then says to Samus "You think I don't know anything about you? Alright, how about the fact that you were raised by the Chozo on the planet Zebes?"

The bounty hunter hears Riku's confidently spoken fact and merely responds with "That's very common knowledge amongst the Galactic Federation troopers…" Samus clearly hadn't been briefed on the fact that Riku wasn't part of the GF judging from that response, but the teenage Overlord realized that such common knowledge was the worst type of use to convince the bounty hunter that he knew more than she realized. But Samus slowly walked around him and began to head towards her gunship once more.

Riku turned around and proclaimed "Alright, how about the fact that you are the lone survivor of the miner's colony K-2L after a Space Pirate attack?"

Samus took a moment to pause upon hearing this, but continued walking not longer afterwards while saying to the teenage Overlord "That's not as commonly known, but I can imagine Dane telling you about that…" She did seems a bit unnerved by Riku's knowledge, but not enough to admit that the boy knew much about her.

As she neared the platform, Riku had one option up his sleeve that he knew would convince Samus that he was in the right about what he said. With his right arm beside him making a slight gesture, the teenage Overlord took a few steps forward while saying in a serious voice "When you were very young and the Chozo first took you to Zebes, you and your surrogate father Old Bird traveled to Chozodia, and you etched a drawing of yourself, Old Bird, and another Chozo Gray Voice onto the wall that depicted the Varia Suit you currently have on you."

Samus pauses again, this time her body staying frozen in place for quite a good number of seconds before she calmly turns around and faces Riku, asking him in a stoic, curious tone "How do you know about that?"

The teenage Overlord knew that he had Samus now that he had grasped her with curiosity, and with a smile behind his visor he unfurled his arms and said to her "Let me be your partner and I'll tell you inside the gunship."

He gave his ultimatum to the bounty hunter, and with only a moment of hesitation Samus replied "…Very well. The ship was only designed for one person travel though, so you'll have to brace yourself whenever we jump into hyper drive."

Giving a fair enough warning to the boy, Samus turns around and gets on her gunship via the platform, dropping it so Riku can rush forward and enter the ship himself. Once inside, the teenage Overlord can see just what the bounty hunter was talking about, as the innards of the gunship were very tightly spaced and allowed for little movement beyond the entrance. The cockpit wasn't very colorful either, with the most noticeable one outside of the monochrome metal plates and controls being the blue, one-way glass of the gunship's window. Samus currently sat at the helm of the gunship, tapping a couple buttons here and there to prepare to the ignition of her vessel.

Once she senses Riku's has boarded her gunship, she bluntly asks him "I want an explanation now. How do you know about my drawing in Chozodia?"

The teenage Overlord folds his arms in front of his chest and calmly says to the bounty hunter "First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Riku Mew. Secondly, I am the Elemental Overlord, a guardian of pe-" Once again feeling as though he didn't deserve that title, Riku shakes his head and quickly speeds on past the rest of his sentence in his mind and says to Samus "The reason I know about you is because where I come from, I've seen all of your adventures unfold before my very eyes. Stories of your past, present and future have been depicted in various forms of media, which is why I knew about the drawing…Don't ask for spoilers regarding this mission though, this is one tale that hasn't been depicted in any media I've seen."

"I see." Despite all of that information being spoken to her, Samus delivered a nonchalant, stoic response and continued to work on getting her gunship started. Riku's confidence is shaken by this response, and as he quivers and raises his right hand while saying to the bounty hunter "T-That's really all you have to say about that?" The bounty hunter doesn't respond, and after lowering his arms Riku lets out a melancholy sigh. He then thinks to himself "Boy, its going to be hard to get Samus to consider me an ally, let alone a friend…"

But before he can say anything else to Samus and likewise her to him, Riku receives a call on his comm. Link and taps his right hand against the helmet to answer it. With a polite and puzzled "Hello, who is this?" The teenage Overlord is greeted by a gruff, distorted voice that says to him _"This is Riku, correct? I am Commander Adam Malkovich, and I will be your superior officer for this mission." _

The teenage Overlord flinched upon hearing the name of his mission command, though it was hard to tell whether he was expressing shock or concern on his face as heard the man on the other line speak. He knew who Adam was, what type of person the man could be, and in particular he knew of the relationship between him and Samus Aran…Before responding to Adam, Riku turned towards Samus and felt a disturbance in the gunship, a slight tremor that signified lift-off. The bounty hunter couldn't hear Adam's voice, which relieved the teenage Overlord as he then said to him "A pleasure it is to meet you, sir." He didn't want to say the man's name, for he knew he couldn't keep that hidden from Samus no matter how quiet he was.

"_Thank you. Now, I've just been recently briefed on how Phazon works, and because Dane is currently working with Samus they assigned me to help assist you in learning to operate your PED Suit along with giving you intel on the planets you travel to. You may not be a member of the Galactic Federation, but I expect a good deal of cooperation from you. Is that clear?" _Adam's voice carries within it a harsh tone, but it was clear that he wasn't belittling Riku but was rather looking out for the boy's well-being seeing as he had no clear idea as to just what he was capable of doing. With a nod of his head, the teenage Overlord said to Adam "No objections on this end."

Adam chuckled at the response on the other line, but reverted to a more serious tone and said to Riku _"Just be careful out there. Samus can be a bit of a handful at times, but her heart is always in the right place."_ The implication of Adam's words was that he knew that Riku was on-board Samus' gunship, but before he could say anything the Commander signed off for now.

Not long after that, Riku heard the engines of Samus' ship roar quietly, the legs folding back up into the pointed wings they usually are as Samus takes the wheel of her ship and turns it to the right, swerving the ship around so it can safely depart from the docking bay. Riku is forced to kneel down and hold on to one of the firmer metal plates behind Samus' seat in order to avoid being tossed around, and with a smile behind his visor he says to the bounty hunter "So I guess the first stop will be Zebes, right?" Samus nods her head as she moves the gunship forward beyond the range of the G.F.S. Olympus, and after a certain amount of time she activates the hyper drive. The back of her ship's thrusters open up and release a powerful burst of blue fire as a giant wormhole opens up in the depths of space in front of them. With a thrust of speed that pushes the ship through the center of this wormhole, the two heroes depart for the birthplace of Samus's power suit, Zebes…

_Next Time: Returning 'Home'_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Depths of Zebes**

After feeling as though he had been squeezed through a one-inch pipe for just a second, Riku feels his body swiftly returning to normal as Samus' ship emerges from hyperspace, its sleek body floating across the starry depths of space towards a lone planet ahead of them. Riku, recovering from the dizziness brought on by warp speed interstellar travel, stands up and moves towards the front of the ship, latching onto the top of Samus' seat with one hand while staring through the window pane towards the planet itself. The planet is devoid of any greenery, its landscape a barren orange and yellow color, signifying a large quantity of rocky wastelands on the surface world. This was Zebes, the place that Samus Aran once had the honor of calling her home.

Samus probably wasn't happy to come back here under these conditions though, especially since the place had already been tainted once before by the presence of Space Pirates, and now Phazon had latched itself onto the planet thanks to the efforts of the revived Dark Samus. Riku could sense this disdain in the bounty hunter, but at the same time these feelings were clouded by Phazon calling to him from the planet itself. It whispered quietly, so quietly in fact that the teenage Overlord could barely hear what the substance was trying to say to him even as the ship moved closer to the planet. Samus was planning to land at a specific location, and was scanning the planet for that spot as they entered through the atmosphere, a shield protecting them from burning up inside the cockpit as they moved through the thin clouds that covered the skies.

Eventually, Samus found a lone plateau of solid rock near a cavernous maw that looked as though it had been roughed up by an explosion of sorts. Maneuvering the wings to fold out and offer the ship a great deal of support, Samus Aran shuts off the back boosters and turns on the ones down below, and the miniature flames released help the ship slowly descend until it lands on the ground. The gunship shakes slightly, but not enough to imbalance anyone onboard. With a perfect landing on Samus' part, the bounty hunter shuts off all functions of the ship and lifts herself up from her seat after turning it around, Riku shuffling back out of her way as she slowly walks on by him and steps on top of the lift, which lowers her to ground level and puts her directly on the surface of Zebes after a single step.

Riku quickly leaps down and lands behind her, turning himself around and exclaiming to Samus through his helmet "Wait for me Samus!" He was enthusiastic and nervous to work alongside the hunter, but in a cold voice as she turns her head Samus says to Riku "Stay here and guard the ship."

The teenage Overlord, with two steps having already been taken, pauses and blinks his eyelids a couple times in confusion, saying to her with a flat tone "What do you meant 'Stay here'? I'm your partner for this mission, ergo, I have to follow you into Zebes."

Samus pauses for a moment at Riku's headstrong attempt to force himself by her side on this mission, and with a twist of her body to face him the statuesque hunter states coldly "While I may have agreed to your terms on the Olympus, it was only so I could get an answer towards how you know so much about me. Now that we are away from Galactic Federation ears I'm not going to hold up my end of the bargain. Zebes is too dangerous for you anyways, so it would be best if you just stayed here until I am done."

Though Riku is surprised and somewhat infuriated to see that the bounty hunter wasn't willing to hold up her end of the bargain, he puts on a worried expression and expresses with one finger brandished at Samus "Zebes is too dangerous for me? I don't care if this place is your home world, while your dark counterpart has its grip on this planet its too dangerous for you to go wandering around in these caves by yourself. Two sets of eyes and ears are better than one Samus, and an experienced hunter like you can't deny that having someone who can utilize Phazon is a useful ally when you don't have the ability to use it yourself anymore."

Samus pauses, turning her body slightly while glaring at the boy's attempt at stating his grand importance towards her. Riku then points out to the bounty hunter "Besides, after what Dark Samus did to you it would be for the best if we stuck together so you don't end up getting defeated due to minimum equipment on you."

That comment was the last straw for Samus, and with a cold piercing glare she raises her voice slightly and says with arm cannon cocked beside her body "Do you know what items I have in my suit right now? The Charge Beam, Missile Launcher, Morph Ball and Bombs, Varia Suit, Super Missiles, Grapple Beam, and High Jump Boots…With that 'minimum equipment' on me, I went through the caverns of Zebes and completely destroyed the Mother Brain along with her generals Kraid and Ridley, completely ruining the Space Pirate's operations on the planet and scattering their forces across the galaxy. And that was one of my weakest arsenals…"

Riku retracts his arm and lets out a timid gulp, realizing how out of line he was in accusing Samus of being unable to handle things with the equipment in her possession. Samus says to the boy in a gentler voice afterwards "I thank you for being concerned, but you don't need to be. I can handle Zebes just fine…Just stay here at the ship, please."

With her commands given, the bounty hunter turned around and slowly walked towards the cavern entrance, keeping her arm cannon held up in defense as she cautiously enters. After scanning the damp environment inside, Samus sprints straight inside, leaving Riku behind below the gunship with a confused look on his face. "What is her problem with me? I'm just trying to help her out. I know she's usually a solo act, but she usually doesn't try to dissuade people from following her…Over course, has anyone ever tried to follow her around? Hmmm…"

As Riku rested on these thoughts, he receives another call on his communicator, and with a tap of his helmet he answers with a surprised "Hello?"

"_So you've arrived on Zebes." _It was Adam, speaking in a tone that expressed his knowledge on Riku's location perfectly. The teenage Overlord, puzzled on how he's being tracked, stutters out a response of "Wait, how did you-" Shaking his head, Riku goes on to say "Never mind. What do you have to say Commander?"

"_Haha, just call me Adam." _With a respectful amount of humor in his voice, Adam insists that he not be called by his rank. _"Anyways, where are you at on the planet right now?"_ He proceeds to ask.

Riku stares up at the underside of Samus' ship with a dim look in his eyes, responding in a relaxed, joking tone of voice "Oh, just standing around underneath Samus' ship, 'guarding' it while she goes into Zebes' caverns by herself."

"_I beg your pardon? Why are you staying at the ship?" _Adam asks, confused by what the boy had told him. Riku shrugs his shoulders and says "Samus ordered me to stay here. I don't know why she's so persistent on me not being her partner, but I'm honestly not going to tick off the 6 foot tall bounty hunter with an arsenal capable of wiping out an armada of Space Pirates."

"_Heh…" _Adam stoically laughs, saying to the boy afterwards _"That's just the type of person Samus is. I'm glad you wish to respect her wishes, but she can be pretty stubborn at times. She tries to bear the weight of everyone's problems on her shoulders a lot of the time too…Tell me, what did you do around her during your first meeting?"_

Riku pauses for a moment, wondering just why Adam was asking him this question before responding quietly with "Umm…Well I tried to take on Dark Samus without any regard for my own life or the situation."

"…_I see." _Adam responds, the cold tone of his pondering voice giving a sense of foreboding to the young Riku before the Commander goes on to say _"So Samus' first impression of you was that you were a reckless if rather good-natured individual. Does that sound right to you?"_

Thinking back to what little Samus has said so far to him thus far, Riku quietly responds in a hesitant voice "Yes…"

"_Haha…So that's what this is all about then." _Adam talks cryptically, his tone more humorous in nature as Riku raises his eyebrows in confusion and asks the man "What are you talking about Adam?"

"_You probably wouldn't think it looking at her cold exterior, but Samus used to be very reckless. I would know because she was one of my recruits at the Police Academy until she became a solo-act bounty hunter, after all. But then again, her reckless behavior started long before that time, when she first became a member of the Galactic Federation. However, I can not say anything bad about her recklessness and occasional disobedience…Even when she stood against me and quit on bitter terms, it was because her heart was in the right place that led her to leave the Police Academy. No matter what happens, Samus will always put others above herself, even if it means disobeying mission orders." _

Adam's swift description of Samus' character intrigued Riku, but the one thing he couldn't get in regards to it all is just why the man was saying all of this to him. He was going to make this known with a puzzled "That seems like a rather personal opinion Adam, and you are just telling that to a complete stranger like me?"

"_There's nothing wrong with that if it helps someone out. You see Riku, the way I see it, because of what you did Samus quickly saw a reflection of what she used to be like in you. I can only imagine that after parting from all of her comrades in the Galactic Federation, she regretted that decision deeply and has come to hate her past self for being such a fool. In turn, she doesn't want to see anyone else make the same life-threatening mistakes that she used to make even if it is for the greater good of the galaxy…Once again, Samus Aran is putting another person's well-being ahead of her own."_

"I-I never thought about it that way, honestly." Riku stutters, his mind overcome with surprise at Adam's well-thought out analysis of the situation as he hears the man go on to say _"I know I said that I expected cooperation from you Riku, but I'm not going to force you to stick around Samus' ship even if I agree with her concerns. If you believe that you can not be reckless again after hearing what I just told you, then go find Samus and assist her in her mission. Don't be afraid to contact me again if you need help navigating Zebes. Samus isn't the only one around with experience on what that planet is like."_

With a smile on his face, Riku says to Adam "I'll keep that in mind, thanks for that pep talk Adam." To which the Commander responds with _"Glad to be of assistance kid. Be careful down there, and stay alert around all terrain whether its familiar to you or not. And I wish you and Samus the best of luck." _

Shutting down the communication for now, Adam leaves Riku with a slight buzz in his right ear before the boy taps the side of his helmet one more time to remove it. Looking forward at the cave with a renewed since of willpower in his mind, the teenage Overlord says to himself "Alright…" and with a swing of his right arm he summons forth his dual barreled weapon before finishing his sentence off with "Lets not fail a second time…" There is also a confident smirk on his face before he cocks his weapon in front of his chest and latches his hand around the left barrel, charging forth into the caverns of Zebes all by himself.

The caves were barely lit, but Riku could get a basic idea in regards to appears. The walls and ceilings were composed of a rugged and unknown dark green stone with a few stalagmites protruding out from above. The place was all too quiet as the teenage Overlord descended through the caverns, even though the reproducing Phazon spores pulsated in his body strongly with the desire to be near its brethren buried within the planet. Thankfully, these pulses don't cause the boy any pain, more than likely because the substance is at its weakest state right now.

After leaping from the bottom of a decline onto a single floating metal platform that is overly complicated in design for its purpose, Riku finds himself faced with a blue door of raw energy, and with the logic of the Metroid universe on his side the teenage Overlord takes his weapon and shoots at the door to cause it to split apart in four directions. However, the very moment that the door swings open a bat-like creature with pincer like wings drills its way through the air towards Riku, forcing him to duck down uncomfortably in his armor as the beast flies right past him and collides with a wall, splattering apart instantly after a painful screech fills the air.

The teenage Overlord lifts his body up and turns towards where the Skree impacted and is quickly surprised by what he sees on the wall. Instead of blood and flesh, a puddle of thick Phazon was stuck on the rock, and in seconds a mutated sprout began to grow from the center of it. The creature had been infected, and as the boy widened his eyes he quickly turned back around to face the source of the problem. Beyond the door lied a Phazon infected downward tunnel, with large mushrooms poking up from the ground with spores of Phazon being released in plumes every few seconds. There were many Skrees flying around in a panic, their bodies twitching in pain from Phazon digging into their very flesh and corrupting them bit by bit.

However, the weak bodied creatures cannot handle the substance, and with a barrage of echoing screeches the Skrees explode one after the other until a circular burst of Phazon droplets fills the air and splatters against the walls, floor and ceiling. Riku is understandably disturbed by this event, and thinks to himself as he cautiously holds onto his weapon and enters the room _"What has Dark Samus done to the wildlife on this planet?" _

With his concern present heavily in his mind, the teenage Overlord slowly walks through the corrupted Zebes, making sure not to stand near the puddles of Phazon to feed the spores in his body. He keeps an eye out for anymore infected creatures, but figures that if the Skrees were easily destroyed then most of the other native species would have fallen as well. It also showed Riku that this brand of Phazon was much stronger than the last one, and that was something to watch out for on this mission. There was no sign of Samus so far, but Riku didn't have much reason to worry about her so long as that immunity to Phazon still holds.

As the boy nears the next door down at the bottom of the hill, he pauses for a moment, sensing a disturbance around him as a little crack echoes across the tunnel. Standing in place, Riku turns his head around and lifts his body up, removing his hand from his weapon just as the ground breaks apart below his feet. In an instance he is sent tumbling through the depths of Zebes, the weight of his armor dragging him down at a rapid pace through a dark chasm as he tries to activate his flight powers to no avail. This causes a bit of fear to grip Riku's mind as he thinks to himself _"How the hell am I not able to fly?!"_

This inquiry of his would have to go largely unanswered, for the ground was coming upon him rapidly, and unless he repositioned his body he was going to break apart his PED suit and leave himself vulnerable to the toxic effects of Phazon that surely lied below. Praying that his boots would have shock absorbers built into them, Riku forces his body to turn against gravity and momentum to put his feet downward, noticing the end of the Phazon plant filled chasm below him as he lowers his head. After passing the exit at the top of this room's ceiling, Riku lands hard upon a barely stable metal platform that is floating above a pool of blue Phazon lava, which currently has a series of see-through vines reaching out towards the walls.

A shockwave of pain vibrates across Riku's legs, forcing him to grit his teeth and bear through it all until it subsides and leaves him to lift his head up to face the chasm he just fell through. _"Well this is a fine mess I've gotten myself into…" _He bemoans in his mind as he taps the left side of his head to activate the light and give himself better vision in this surprisingly dimly lit room.

He then moves towards the right side of his helmet to activate his communicator, but is greeted by a powerful fizzle signifying that he has no way of getting a signal this far down into Zebes. _"And things have just gotten worse…" _Riku thinks to himself with an expression of disdain on his face as he looks down and scans the room. There are two doors similar to the ones he saw above, only these are grey in color signifying that they are locked down for whatever reason. Beyond this pit of lava lied crimson stoned pillars that are beginning to feel the touch of Phazon, but the odd thing about them was that the Phazon was reconstructing the broken structures back to their original states.

Riku notes this oddity and says to himself "Wait a second…Isn't Phazon only capable of corroding and mutating what it touches?"

This interesting observation hasn't detracted the teenage Overlord from another problem, and that is the fact that the light pulsations happening via the Phazon in his body have only gotten stronger. Riku also couldn't help but feel as though he was being watched, and the flickering of a faint light-blue glow above him didn't make things any better for his worrying mind. Looking up towards the light, Riku's eyes widen upon seeing a bestial, phantasmal monstrosity diving right his way.

With a quick leap to the left, the teenage Overlord dodges the beast as it slams down in front of him with all four of its three-clawed limbs, its sharp flexible tail swinging towards him and forcing him to leap over it before the creature turns around and flares its draconic mouth wide open to release a grating roar from its glowing dark blue maw. Once on the ground with the beast's body in full view, Riku recognizes the skeletal dragon with glowing eyes as Samus' long time arch nemesis, Ridley. But something was odd about the creature. As noted during its descent, instead of having the purple and reddish coloring it usually has Ridley's body was a translucent light-blue with dark green replacing the normally red fibers in its wings. There was also the fact that the entire body flickered on and off like a broken light, which had the added effect of distorting its roar.

But these details didn't stop Riku from becoming briefly paralyzed with fear, especially since he was by himself against this monstrosity with only minimum elements on his person. While he did recall Samus' argument about how she was able to stop the Space Pirates operations with a limited arsenal, Ridley was completely beyond the league of a few mere pirates, and this Riku say cause for concern as he aimed his dual-cannon at the dragon and shot a few rounds of his Plasma Beam at the creature, only for them to miss as the beast pushes itself into the air and flaps its wings to sustain flight in this room.

Ridley then opens its mouth and launches its own flames, which naturally are blue in color to represent the Phazon atmosphere in this room. Riku tumbles forward after letting go of his weapon, throwing himself onto his back and aiming at the beast's underside to fire another few rounds of Plasma Beam ammo. However, while the beast clearly should have been hit, the heated shots simply pass right through Ridley's flickering body and leave Riku with a puzzled look on his face. Worst of all was that this momentary pause of shock left the teenage Overlord vulnerable, and Ridley quickly stopped its wings and fell down upon the boy. Ridley's weight along with the strength of his claws press down upon Riku's armor and nearly crack apart his visor, though the vision he has through it distorts with static due to a disruption in the electrical circuits. The might of Ridley's claws pressing against his chest also causes Riku's heart to feel a mass abundance of pain as he lets out a dry, painful cough.

Ridley then rises back up and glides away from the platform, turning around and opening its mouth to roar as it unleashes a spread of five fireballs towards the fallen teenage Overlord. Riku, despite the damage to his suit, points his weapon up and fires his own fire shots to attack the ones coming his way. Unlike with the body of the dragon, these fireballs make contact with their target and stop them. _"Well that's one good sign…" _The boy thinks to himself positively as he lowers his weapon and props himself up with both it and his left hand, quickly rising to his feet as he stares up at the mighty beast and proceeds to think in a grim tone _"I'm completely out of my element here…I'm a swordsman forced to take up a gun against a monster that completely outclasses me in my current state."_

As he lies his mind on this matter, Riku listens to the beating of Phazon within his body and remembers just what exactly was on him at that very moment. With a sly smirk on his face, the teenage Overlord thinks to himself _"Perhaps its time to level the playing field then…" _

Digging deep into his body with a focused mind as Ridley released another distorted roar, Riku concentrates on the Phazon buried within him, using his willpower to take control of it and have it empower his body, though a moment of weakness overcomes him as his vision distorts inward and his eyes quickly glow like the Phazon lava below his feet. His vision of the world becomes a bright monochrome save for Ridley, who becomes perfectly solidified in his eyes while his colors become much more florescent than they were before. Riku's arm cannon also changes, with the crimson glow changing to a dark blue one with a pulsating effect surrounding it. On top of that all, Riku's armor gains a bright blue Phazon aura. He had entered Hyper Mode, and with Phazon backing him up he was ready for round two against Ridley.

However, as the dragon lets out another roar, the beast's entire body quickly freezes in place and flickers in and out of existence, causing Riku to look at him with his right eyebrow raised until Ridley suddenly vanishes from sight, the room becoming much brighter as the doors flash through multiple colors. The teenage Overlord is puzzled by Ridley's sudden disappearance, especially since this means that he wasn't fighting the real deal at all…Which also begs the question of just what the heck he was even combating along with why he was unable to hurt it. _"Something is definitely wrong here…"_ Riku thinks to himself.

With a turn of his head, the teenage Overlord notices how Phazon is continuing to repair the room, everything becoming brighter as for a brief second he notices a very translucent phantom of Samus herself dashing through his body and heading into the room beyond the door to the right of him. He ponders just why this phantom existed, and with curiosity gripping his mind Riku vents out the Phazon from Hyper Mode with a thought and returns back to normal before aiming his arm cannon at the door and blasting it open. Beyond the door he heard a deep roar and the room he was currently in quaked lightly. Something was stirring inside of Zebes, and the teenage Overlord guessed that Samus might be around where this commotion was happening. Thus with a cautious dash, Riku left this room behind and headed through the tunnel burned in the back of the next room, following the echoing roars until the moment where he would meet its source…

_Next Time: Apparitions_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Ghosts of Zebes**

Riku is rushing down the destroyed tunnel, hearing the deep roar of a mysterious creature at the very end that worried him to his core. After the encounter with the strange Phazon empowered, phantom-like Ridley, the teenage Overlord could only assume that the creature responsible for the roar was another former denizen of the planet Zebes. And more than likely, Samus was the one who awakened this creature from the grave. The urgency in Riku's expression was noticeable behind his visor, and the tense glare he had was partially because he was slightly exhausted from using Hyper Mode just a moment ago. _"What is going on here?" _Riku ponders to himself as he moves through the tunnel.

"_My flight is gone, and I wasn't able to hurt that Phazon representation of Ridley…" _Those two issues were the most prominent on his mind, the secondary issue floating about being _"And why was the Phazon in that room reconstructing things? That's just not in its nature…" _

There were quite a few mysteries on this mission that needed to be resolved, and considering how far down into Zebes Riku was he wasn't able to contact Adam and ask him for some answers. In all honesty though, the man would likely know nothing about what was going on, especially in regards to himself. Only Dark Samus knew the truth, and it would be a long ways coming before he or the bounty hunter Samus would end up confronting her about her misdeeds. For now, the armored Riku would have to deal with the problem at hand, and as the roars grew louder he began to see a pale blue glow at the very end of the tunnel.

This glow was covered by a miniature explosion, and the shadow of Samus' armor can be seen leaping away from the explosion she obviously created with a missile. Riku charged ahead, jumping out from the edge of the tunnel to land in an expansive room filled with a ceiling of glowing red rock and moist bubbly platforms covered in Phazon spores spread around in the air. Riku sees Samus skid across the ground beside him, her armor looking slightly damaged across the shoulders as she thrusts her arm cannon in front of her body, aiming it at the beast responsible for the deep roar Riku has been hearing so far.

The teenage Overlord turns to face the beast after briefly staring at Samus with concern in his eyes. Standing in the back of the room is a large scaled reptilian creature with three eyes on his otherwise lizard-like head. The creature's bulbous, skin-colored belly has three large holes tunneled into it, two of them currently pushing out a thick two-pronged claw. The creature's long, winding tail whips around against the wall behind him, breaking apart the Phazon plants attached to them with each swipe. The upper parts of his arms are bulky like his legs, but the lower parts are thin with only two claws at the end compared to the three-pronged feet. Just like with the representation of Ridley Riku saw earlier, this extraterrestrial beast was covered in a translucent light-blue glow of Phazon.

And just like the Ridley the teenage Overlord encountered, this "apparition" of the former Space Pirate Enforcer Kraid seems to be immune to weapons as the missile Samus quickly fires at the beast's open mouth phases through him and collides with the wall behind, creating a wide-fielded explosion of energy whose edge passes through the back of the "apparition's" head. Launched from the gut of the beastly Kraid is his two-pronged claws, which are attached to a thick rectangular-like mound of flesh. One flies towards Samus, the other towards Riku, both homing in on their energy signatures and flying at them at very high speeds.

Samus quickly lock-on to hers and fires a missile at it, blowing it up quickly before it gets much of a chance to near her body. This also explains to Riku just why he saw an explosion before entering, but he can only take notice of the bounty hunter's actions for a moment as he swiftly has to cock his double-barrel weapon and fire a barrage of plasma shots at the flesh heading his way. After the flesh is ignited, it takes only two seconds for it to burn apart. With his next attacks destroyed, Kraid lets out another roar that shakes the very room before taking a couple steps forward to near the heroes and hopefully make it easier to hurt them.

While he moves, Samus faces the teenage Overlord and calmly proclaims to him "What are you doing here?! Get back to the ship before you endanger your life!"

Riku turns his head towards the bounty hunter and nonchalantly says to her "Don't worry about it Samus, I'm not being reckless this time. Now I'm focused on this mission, and I won't endanger either my life or yours ever again."

Samus lets out a light "Tsk" of annoyance towards the boy, but barely has time to care about his safety as Kraid swings his left claw across the sky and sends a flurry of his crescent nails across the air. Samus switches her arm cannon mode from missile launcher mode to its basic setting, the cannon itself compressing before the bounty hunter launches a barrage of power beam shots at the nails heading her way, one projectile being more than enough to take down each one and in turn giving Samus enough time to aim her mighty weapon at Kraid's apparition and charge the power beam, at the end of its charge the energy collapses inward, thrusting out swiftly in the form of a super charged missile.

Even with the force capable of busting Cordite being packed into the missile, Kraid is not affected in the slightest by the attack, which phases right through the flickering face of the apparition and collides with the wall much like the last missile fired, only this time a much bigger explosion is created that actually destroys a large chunk of the wall, the room trembling from the impact as a few chunks of rock are dislodged from the ceiling, worrying Riku as he finishes destroying Kraid's nails. With a quick turn towards a clearly worried Samus, the teenage Overlord states "Are you trying to cause the room to collapse on us?!"

Any other person would have responded angrily to such a blunt accusation, but Samus calmly focused on the heat of battle and responds to Riku with "I'm just trying to figure out how to damage this Phazon ghost of Kraid…Missiles and beams aren't working, so I won't bother with them again."

"That just leaves you with Morph Ball Bombs though! How are you going to attack him without most of your basic weaponry?!" Riku proclaims in a worried tone as most of his words are blocked out by Kraid's grating roar and two-step charge, which breaks apart a couple of platform and brings him even closer to the heroes.

"I'll figure it out eventually…In the mean time, if you are going to stand around worrying about me then you can use that time to determine how to beat this ghost of Kraid yourself." Samus bluntly responds to Riku's well-placed concerns, and as she leaps into the air with the grace of the Chozo warriors that were infused into her blood the teenage Overlord stares at her surprised by how consistent she can be with the coldness in her voice.

At the same time though, he found it odd that Samus was trying to figure out the ghost's weakness by herself instead of using the Scan Visor, and with a inquiring voice he exclaims through the commotion in the room as the bounty hunter stands on level with Kraid's head and fires a steady stream of miniature power beam shots at him in a kneeled position "Samus, you can't figure out his weakness with the scan visor, can you?!"

Samus has to get out of the way of Kraid's claw slash, which levels the platform she was on as she falls to the ground and calmly states to Riku "My scan visor recognizes this ghost as Kraid, but doesn't actually refer to it as a ghost. Worst of all is that my visor tells me to put missiles in his mouth like I did before, but as you can see that hasn't worked."

"Wait, it doesn't identify it as a ghost?" Riku finds that point to be rather interesting, and he goes on to ask "Hold on, why do YOU think this is a ghost?" He emphasized the pronoun merely because he has his own view on just why Kraid and the Ridley he saw earlier deserved such a title.

"This ghost of Kraid reminds me of the Chozo Ghosts I encountered on Tallon IV. The Chozo Ghosts were remnants of ascended Chozo who were tethered to Tallon IV by Phazon. They were only corporal at certain times and it wasn't until I acquired the X-Ray Visor that I was able to easily damage them."

"And naturally, you don't have that right now." Riku says, pointing out the obvious as Samus goes quiet for a moment, responding to the teenage Overlord with "…Even if I did have it, this ghost of Kraid feels different than the Chozo ghosts. For one, I could identify the Chozo as ghosts with the scan visor. Second, I could hurt the Chozo ghosts before getting the X-Ray visor, it just took longer."

"So this is a stronger type of ghost?" Riku whispers to himself, concerned that the two of them would be unable to harm the phantom.

As his face sinks low and Samus goes back into the heat of battle, Riku suddenly recalls something odd that happened when he fought Ridley just a few moments ago. When he activated Hyper Mode, the beast appeared more solid, as if it actually was a living being once more. Could it be that the way to beat a Phazon ghost was to become one with Phazon itself?

The bounty hunter leaps onto one of the few remaining platforms and leans forward, compressing herself down into the form of an armored ball decked in the colors of her armor that takes her body and turns it into a swirling mass of energy to make for easy travel. From that energy Samus drops a miniature bomb that is compressed together until she rolls off the platform, at which point it explodes the very moment Kraid swings his claw down and breaks the platform apart, once again doing no damage. Samus unfurls from the Morph Ball and lands on the ground, skidding a couple inches and realizing that with all of her options exhausted she had no way to defeat this Phazon ghost of Kraid.

"Tsk…" Samus says in annoyance, but now that he has had a few moments to think things through the teenage Overlord turns towards the bounty hunter and proclaims to her "Wait a minute Samus, I have an idea on how to defeat Kraid!"

Samus turns, a little bit happy to see Riku has taken the time to think of something besides concern for her, but nevertheless responds coldly with "What is your idea?"

The teenage Overlord focuses deep within him, latching onto the Phazon spores and utilizing them to activate Hyper Mode once more, becoming a little more exhausted from it as Samus flinches briefly in surprise, only to pay close attention as Riku says to her "While I'm in Hyper Mode, I think I can see the corporal form of these Phazon ghosts."

Samus arches her eyebrows downward, finding the lack of genuine confidence in Riku's voice concerning until he goes on to say with a dialect noting her concern "Now hear me out here. If I use my Hyper Mode abilities to attack Kraid at his usual weak point, then perhaps I can force him into a corporal state for you to attack."

"…" Samus pauses for a moment after hearing Riku's idea, her mind deep in thought about the applicability of the plan before she turns to face Kraid with her visor glowing brightly to obscure her expression and she says with an agreeing tone of voice "That just might work. Your welcome to give it a shot, and I'll follow up if he becomes corporal."

Riku smiles behind his helmet, thankful to the bounty hunter for her faith in his plan as he takes his Phazon glowing double-barreled cannon and aims it at the roaring mouth of Kraid, charging up energy within the barrels until it reaches maximum capacity. Kraid notices the attack being readied and sends out clawed mounds of flesh from the holes in his rounded gullet. However, as Riku unleashes his charge, his two barrels merge together to form a massive, technologically advanced rocket launcher with a mighty cylindrical barrel that fires out a gigantic light-blue meteor right across the air. Riku, who wasn't expecting this result, is pushed back from the recoil of his attack as his eyes widen and his mind snaps out a response of _"What the heck?!"_

But the end result of the meteor attack is that the three mounds of clawed flesh are unable to deal with the Phazon irradiated heat exuding from the meteor and melt apart, burning down to ashes as the meteor flies straight into Kraid's mouth and explodes within, causing the ghastly beast to flicker on and off repeatedly as its rapidly distorted roar of pain fills the skies. When it finally finishes roaring, Samus is surprised to find that the beast has become corporal, looking nearly identical to its original form only with its usual bodily colors having now gained a bright neon shade to signify that it is still one with Phazon. There is also a light-blue aura surrounding him to further exemplify this matter.

Samus didn't bother questioning the changed appeared of the once ghostly Kraid, as with her arm cannon spreading out to fit within it the missiles stored within her Varia Suit, the bounty hunter leaps into the air and lands on one of the platforms, firing a swift barrage of five missiles into Kraid's mouth and creating a broad series of explosions as the beast roars in pain repeatedly, its head swinging back after the last missile enters his gullet as its skin darkens in a brown tone to show that its innards were getting fried by the heat of the missiles. Samus was glad to finally be able to damage the monster, and didn't let up her assault of missiles as ten more enter through Kraid's mouth.

The beast's roars become more pained with each hit, the skin darkening and then becoming a pulsating bright red until the point where a series of explosions covers the beast's goliath of a body, and it lets out a prolonged, perishing shriek as its massive form sinks into the undamaged ground. Samus stands up straight and cocks her arm cannon as Kraid fades out of existence, its body flickering back and forth as plentiful explosions fill the room where it once stood until the moment that it vanishes entirely. The Phazon plants and spores in the room pulsate, filling the air with a light-blue glow that briefly blinds the Hyper Mode Riku as from the remnants of Kraid's body suddenly appears two translucent spheres of Phazon similar to the ones that surrounded Dark Samus after she stole the abilities of the teenage Overlord and the original hunter.

In one sphere was a swirling mass of wind, and in the other was a glass cube with a glowing green sharp angled arrow inside. Samus flinches upon seeing the second sphere, and from atop the platform she defeated Kraid on she leaps towards the sphere and her armor makes direct contact with it. Upon landing on the ground with a crouch of her body, her armor gains a brief glow and after a few seconds of pause the bounty hunter's visor glows as a deep feminine voice says to her "Speed Booster Functionality restored…"

Turning herself around, Samus stands up and the thrusters on the back of her armor flare up. Running forward, the hunter's speed is quickly increased to high speeds, her body gaining a flashing glow that leaves behind holographic duplicates of herself until she suddenly stops at the other side of the room and crouches, keeping the charge of her Speed Booster intact as she glances behind herself and turns around, jumping up an inch off the ground and pushing her body forward to release the Speed Booster, her left shoulder taking the headway as she sprints across the air like a blur, fascinating the standing Riku until she slams into the wall, shaking the room a bit and dispelling the glow around her body, leaving Samus with the perfect position to kick off of the wall and back flip across the air until she lands in the center of the room and crouches down for a moment, nodding her head to show that the Speed Booster is in working order despite being touched by Phazon.

Now that Samus was done collecting her sphere, Riku walked towards the sphere with wind trapped within, thinking to himself as Hyper Mode deactivates _"So my elemental powers are amplified immensely by Phazon, huh? That's rather curious…" _

The teenage Overlord stands before the sphere after finishing that thought, and with a swipe of his hand towards the sphere the Phazon is broken apart and the wind inside flies right through Riku's armor and re-enters his body. Though the initial part of this "item collection" is painless, the second part would prove to be more strenuous on Riku's body. The Phazon fragments that were broken apart by Riku's hand flies into his body, and his heart starts beating rapidly as he feels the Phazon spores within him being fed by this influx of substance. The spores grow, covering more and more of the insides of his body as a light-blue root-like vein begins to spread across the right side of Riku's face.

A cold, dark-blue sweat starts to excrete from the teenage Overlord's skin, but despite the pain brought on by further corruption there was an added benefit to touching the sphere. Appearing on the back of his PED Suit are a couple of small thrusters, born into existence thanks to the reacquisition of the wind element. With a thought focused away from the Phazon corruption within him, the teenage Overlord activates the thrusters and lifts off from the ground, levitating ten feet away from it. With a merry smile on his face thanks to having some form of flight returned to him, Riku quickly lands back on the ground with a "clank" as Samus turns to face him.

The bounty hunter stared at him with a concerned look for a moment, making it clear that she recognized the further Phazon corruption that had taken hold on his body. She then returns to her normal cold glare, and Riku says to her "See Samus? I can be useful to you on this mission."

Samus grumbles slightly in the face of Riku's bold claim, but with a light sigh she had to admit that the boy had a bit of point in what he said considering how ineffective her arsenal is against these "Phazon Apparitions" initially. "…Riku, was it?" Samus refers to the boy by his name this time, a hint of reluctance still in her voice as deep down she can't believe that she is going to say this.

The teenage Overlord blinks twice before responding to the bounty hunter with a short "Yes?" Samus says in a calm, partially warm tone with her eyes glaring at him relaxingly "If you are going to help me out, let me make a few things clear. I don't want you to mention anything about my past, from now on you are going to speak to me as though this is our first time meeting. Second, you will listen to all of my directions without objections. Finally, do not over abuse Hyper Mode, only use it whenever we fight another one of these apparitions. Is that understood?"

Riku quickly nods his head, thinking to himself _"At least she's giving me a little more respect…But she sees me now as a tagalong kid more than a partner…But it is better than nothing." _

Samus then turns to the left and notices that one of the doors in the room has started blinking, meaning that they could now leave and continue exploring Zebes. "Alright…Once we leave this room, we'll try and find the source of Phazon on this planet and destroy it. Be careful…" With a fair enough warning from the bounty hunter, the two heroes exit the room, venturing on through the Phazon infested depths of Zebes to foil Dark Samus' plans…

_Next Time: A Haunted Past_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Mother Brain**

Samus and Riku climb through the depths of Kraid's Lair after defeating the phantasmal reincarnation of the massive extraterrestrial lizard, the Phazon plants that have spread across the ground and steel platforms irritating the bounty hunter because the beauty of this planet has once again been tainted. "…What is Dark Samus' goal?" Samus mumbles to herself in a pondering tone, her quiet voice being heard by Riku, who tilts his head and asks "Do you have any theories?"

Samus turns her head slightly as they make it up the top of an incline, responding to Riku with a cold voice "Not yet. But that's not important right now…We need to figure out how to get rid of the Phazon on this planet."

"I actually have a theory on what we should do." Riku nonchalantly says, and before leaping to another platform Samus fully faces the boy and hesitantly says "…What is it?"

"We just encountered a Phazon manifestation of Kraid, and before I found you I encountered one of…Ridley." Riku was hesitant to say the name of the bounty hunter's most feared enemy, but Samus reacts with a calm "I see…" Though the time it took her to respond suggested that she was at least slightly disturbed by this news in her mind.

"Go on." She then insists. Riku waves his right hand around in front of him and says "You said that Kraid and Ridley were two enemies you fought when you went to Zebes and stopped the Space Pirates. And now we just fought the two of them as Phazon apparitions."

"…In other words, Phazon is reconstructing Zebes to mimic the 'Zero Mission' I partake in here, which means the way to stop Phazon from spreading is to kill the apparition representing the final obstacle that I had to face during the initial phase of the 'Zero Mission'…Mother Brain."

Samus speaks of the leader of the Space Pirates with a bit of anger and disdain, and Riku picks up on this instantly. "You don't really like the idea of having to fight her anger, even if its just an apparition, right?" He asks.

"She's not as dangerous as Dark Samus, but I still regard Mother Brain as the instigator of one of my most difficult missions ever…And my first major one as a solo bounty hunter. If anything, the apparition of her would be all the way up in Tourian, which means we'll have to detour into Brinstar to get there."

"Sounds like a plan then." Riku cheerfully responds to Samus' brief tidbits of information. The bounty hunter nods, but before the two of them move on she asks in a voice of intrigue "…You said you fought an apparition of Ridley. How did you end up all the way in Norfair?"

The teenage Overlord flinches, his mind recalling a rather vital bit of information that he had almost neglected to tell Samus. Through his mouth he states "Oh yeah…The ground broke apart in one of the first tunnels in Brinstar when I tried to come after you and I ended up in Ridley's old lair."

"…So Phazon is still corroding parts of the planet. That's pretty important information, so thanks for passing that on to me." Samus says, almost mustering up a fully thankful tone of voice as she does so.

"I do admit, even with Hyper Mode on your side I'm a little impressed that you managed to defeat Ridley." Samus praises Riku's feat swiftly, but the humble teenage Overlord with all of his knowledge of the situation grins and says to the bounty hunter "Its not that impressive. It was an apparition, so it was obviously weaker than the real deal."

"I don't think so." Samus quickly responds, her right hand rubbing against the bottom of her helmet as she reflects on her encounter with Kraid's apparition and goes on to say to the teenage Overlord "Kraid felt just as strong as the first time I fought him, and that's even taking into consideration my current arsenal. Well…"

Samus lifts her head up and faces the boy, who stands in place with one arm hanging in the air and a puzzled look in his face, but before the bounty hunter continues her sentence she quickly changes the subject and says "…We are wasting time standing around talking about this. We need to take care of Mother Brain's apparition and hope that Phazon will be removed from this world after we are done."

Riku nods his head to share Samus' hope in the purification of her home world, and with an empathetic voice he says to her "You'll feel a lot better knowing that Zebes is safe from harm afterwards, right?"

The bounty hunter nods her head, but the teenage Overlord feels a bit guilty after making his kind remark simply because someday soon Samus would return to Zebes and face the Mother Brain, and that mission will truly leave a scar on the bounty hunter's psyche the likes of which she hadn't had since the death of her parents. But for now, it was best to not hint about Samus' future and simply follow her upward through Kraid's Lair, using his new air thrusters to get from platform to platform, doing this all mainly as a test run to see what he is and is not limited to with this new equipment.

Samus turned her head back a couple of times, wanting to ensure that the boy was making it through Zebes just fine despite his lack of familiarity with the area. At one point a lone metal platform collapses due to the many Phazon mushrooms degrading its structure, but Samus quickly leaps back and uses her left hand as a means of support while taking her right hand and catching the falling Riku. Her strength combined with the power of her armor allow her to keep a grasp on both him and the ledge, and with a mighty tug the bounty hunter throws her right arm upward to toss the boy onto the ledge with his thruster's assisting him for the last leg of the ascension. Samus then pulls herself up, flipping onto her feet and taking a brief look back as she hears the chunks of the platform break apart on the ground far below, glaring angrily at the destruction Phazon has caused while Riku says politely "Thanks for the save."

Samus faces Riku, taking her arm cannon and aiming at the laser sealed door in the ceiling behind her while saying to him in blunt coldness "To save more time on later planets we may have to temporarily split up…I'm not going to be able to save you then."

With her warning given, Samus leaps on the more stable metal platform below the door and leaves Kraid's Lair without another word, and after a couple of blinks of his eyelids Riku follows her into Brinstar without a thought of his own…Well, that is to say, the two heroes have to first rise there via a small holographic platform through a shaft that is surprisingly devoid of any Phazon. It gives Samus a moment of relief and a chance to collect her thoughts before they enter Brinstar.

After exiting the long shaft the two heroes come across a broken laser door that flickers on and off. It still functions the same as the others, but Samus has to wait a moment for it to be on before she can shoot it open. The two heroes then climb a few organic platforms to reach a barely stable floor that Samus breaks open with a couple Morph Ball bombs, jumping into range of another door that she can shoot and open to give them entrance to an incredibly long shaft. There is absolutely no monsters in the way as the heroes climb, and Riku recalls that all of them have likely blown to pieces due to being overloaded with Phazon. It is a thankful matter, since it would be best not to waste time dealing with miniscule creatures as the two heroes make their way towards the Tourian entrance.

At the very top of the shaft, the heroes enter a metallic plated room with a lone sitting bird-like statue made of stone above a crawl shaft between two metal platforms. Samus is able to get through it with her Morph Ball with ease, but Riku has to get flat on his stomach and crawl one inch at a time through the passage until he catches up with the bounty hunter on the other side. _"Ugh…That's going to be annoying to deal with often…" _He thinks in regards to the Morph Ball tunnels. He doesn't let Samus know about this, especially since the hunter's momentary nod shows him that she understands his troubles.

After blasting open the nearby door with a casual swing of her arm cannon and a shot of her Power Beam, the hunter and boy enter a short room that consists simply of a large stone maw of Ridley and Kraid, both of them open either because of the defeat of their apparitions. The insides of the maws are covered in Phazon moss that would be toxic to the touch if anyone but these two went near it. Riku is still adverse to letting his armor get in contact with them as he walks through both maws, seeing as he is uncertain as to what type of Phazon contact with help feed the spores in his body. Beyond the stone maws is another holographic elevator, this one surrounded by technological walls and platforms.

Once both heroes are on the elevator it descends, taking them through a dark passageway that only lets through the occasional slit of light created by the Phazon on the other side. At the very bottom of the elevator is a technologically advanced base that clashes greatly with the organic landscapes of the rest of Zebes…However, most of the area didn't look as pristine as it did as it did before. The Phazon that was growing across the walls and platforms did its best to repair the damage caused by its destruction a few years ago, but there were still patches of charred metal visible from Samus' point of view that reminded her of the aftermath of her battle with Mother Brain.

As she reflects on these moments, she briefly flinches in surprise and is distracted from those thoughts by the momentary appearance of a thin, phantasmal copy of herself dashing off of the elevator. Riku, despite seeing this phantom before, fails to notice it this time around due to quickly leaping off of the elevator to descend onto the closest platform. However, he does notice Samus' brief pause as he turns back to look at her, and in a puzzled voice he asks "Hey, you alright there?" During his inquiry he fails to notice a bulbous creature with a thick gelatinous membrane, four red nuclei and two pairs of mandibles sneak up behind him.

Samus' focus returns, and with a quick warning of "Look out!" the hunter aims and charges her arm cannon at the creature behind Riku and lets out a charged shot the very moment that he begins to turn around. The shot zips past his face and strikes the creature, burning right through it and slamming the rest of the body against the wall before it explodes in a burst of viscera and a painful dying screech is released from its fanged mouth. With Samus' arm cannon smoking from the swiftly charged attack, Riku quickly faces her and says in an appreciative tone "That was a close one! I didn't actually expect to see a Metroid here…"

The hunter lowers her arm cannon and looks down at Riku, saying with a tone of pure honesty "I actually didn't expect that either…Thankfully it was a Tallon Metroid and not a normal one, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to kill it."

"…But wait, what is a Tallon Metroid doing on Zebes?" Riku asks, forgetting for a moment that he shouldn't be mentioning anything from Samus' past that she hadn't mentioned once before. This slip of the tongue makes his expression change for a moment as the hunter goes on to say "Tallon bred Metroids were mutated via Phazon thanks to the Space Pirates, so any Metroids still on Zebes could very well have been mutated as well when Dark Samus spread Phazon across the planet."

Leaping down onto the same platform as the teenage Overlord, Samus faces him and says in a dutiful tone "Before we reach Mother Brain, we should exterminate any Tallon Metroid we find." Riku nods his head in agreement, and the two heroes begin their trek through Tourian.

The lights that regularly lit the former Space Pirates base were replaced with the dim glow of Phazon on the platforms the heroes traversed, the acid pits converted to the more toxic red Phazon that even Samus with her immunity to the substance tries her hardest to avoid as she draws out her charge beam and deals with every Tallon Metroid that crosses her path alongside with the Plasma Beam using Riku. The atmosphere of Tourian was melancholy, the sensation of tense fear gripping the teenage Overlord as he leaps and levitates between platforms and comes to realize how annoying it is to go around this technological landscape without any idea when and where a Metroid will appear at.

Paranoia was the first emotion that appeared beyond the fear, and with it Riku realizes that just like the hero of the last world he went to he was definitely not as brave Samus and probably could never hope to match that bravery. Memories of the past once again tried to reactivate the trauma buried in his consciousness, but Riku quickly fought against them and said in his mind _"Try something different…I'm not going to let you weaken me right now…" _out of defiance of what the trauma tried to do to him at such a crucial junction.

The trip through Tourian didn't last long, but with only one room separating the heroes from the area where Mother Brain once existed Samus and Riku had do something different to cross the large gap in front of them. Samus opened the door they just went through, walking back to the prior room and putting herself at the appropriate distance away from the edge of the gap before she charges forward with the thrusters active on her armor. After the glow of the Speed Booster activates and Riku steps aside, Samus leaps into the air and unleashes the Speed Booster to thrust herself across the gap, slamming shoulder first into the laser door on the other side where a quick draw of her arm cannon afterwards allows it to open up.

Riku sees a perfect grappling point in the ceiling, and after recalling Dane's note about him having a Grappling Beam installed into his armor due to prior events in his life the teenage Overlord extends his left hand forward and clenches his fingers to send a fuzzy light-red beam of energy from the knuckles that connects to the point in the ceiling. Leaping off of the ground, Riku is carried by the beam over to the other side of the pit, but after letting go he has to use his thrusters to make his descent easier. Now that he had joined up with Samus once more they were able to make it into Mother Brain's room and were deeply surprised by what they saw inside.

Reconstructed almost perfectly by the Phazon on the planet was a series of walls composed of metal edges and plasma laser technology. Roots of Phazon dug their way into the laser walls, adding a translucent blue glow to their red composition while also empowering the weapon system with the substance so they shoot out dark-blue rings of hard light towards the heroes. Beyond all of these walls Samus could see the Mother Brain herself, the gigantic spiked membrane staring through the laser walls with its large dark red eye as Phazon is nearly finished reconstructing its glass tank. Connecting the brain to the tank are a series of thick wires that appear dark-blue in color to represent the phantasmal embodiment of Phazon that composed most of the Mother Brain's body currently. The membrane flickers on and off from existence, but as Samus readies herself to tear through the walls with her arm cannon cocked and her body positioned away from the laser rings a voice calls to her _"Welcome home…Samus Aran…"_

The cold, calculating voice belonged to the Mother Brain herself, and Samus is surprisingly shocked to hear a supposed apparition speak to her. "W-What?" She mutters to herself, and once again a thin phantom of herself appears and speeds on through the gaps where the laser walls soon won't be. The phantom, before it vanished, manages to exclaim to the Mother Brain _"Mother, it's too bad but, your universe doesn't exist! Our hopes and beliefs will best your ambitions!"_

Though he didn't see the phantom, Riku becomes aware of its existence due to recognizing the voice echoing through the room, though he is understandably surprised that Samus is the one saying such words. The Mother Brain apparition responds, saying to Samus' phantom _"I will not bend to your will…You are not my superior…" _There was a cryptic meaning behind those emotionless words, but the Mother Brain never again speaks beyond that sentence to clarify on what it means.

Samus and Riku are left puzzled by what they just heard, and to divert attention away from those optimistic words that she spoke foolishly long ago the hunter starts to arm her cannon with charged energy and says to the teenage Overlord "We need to get through the barriers and attack Mother Brain before her Command Capsule is restored…"

The hunter aims her cannon and launches a Super Missile at the barrier, hitting it with a mighty impact that shatters it instantly and opens the way to the next barrier. Laser rings head through the steel walls towards the heroes, but Samus goes into her Morph Ball to get underneath a couple of them and leap onto the platform on the other side. Riku blasts apart the rings with his Plasma Beam and leaps behind Samus as she unfurls from the Morph Ball, and with his cannon he unleashes a barrage of plasma shots in conjunction with her power shots to break apart the next barrier.

This process is repeated for the final wall afterwards, leaving nothing standing between them and the apparition of Mother Brain, who unfortunately had her Command Capsule restored despite Samus' urgent desire to prevent that from happening. Samus pauses for a moment and sighs out of annoyance towards the situation, but quickly tells Riku "Give me a moment to break the container and you can solidify her with Hyper Mode…"

Samus, staying aware of her surroundings, leaping down to the platform in front of Mother Brain and glares her down coldly, getting on her knees and widening the barrel of her arm cannon to unleash a constant stream of missiles that explode against the glass surface constantly. Riku takes guard point and uses his plasma shots to keep the energy rings from hurting Samus while she's busy with her assault, but after a few moments the teenage Overlord realizes that something strange was happening with the Mother Brain. More specifically, he couldn't hear a single crack coming from the glass canister despite the amount of missiles Samus kept using.

"_That means…" _Coming to a swift realization, Riku stops firing upon the energy rings and solidifies his focus onto the Phazon spores, activating Hyper Mode and aiming his arm double-barreled weapon at the glass canister while declaring to the hunter "Lets trade places Samus! The shield can only be broken with Phazon now!"

Samus stops her missile barrage upon hearing Riku's advice and looks at the canister, recognizing the lack of damage caused and quickly back flipping and using the magnetic features of her armor to latch onto the wall above where the teenage Overlord stands so he can drop down and thrust his arm cannon forward with energy charged to unleash a gigantic Phazon meteor much like he did against Kraid, the impact of that mighty attack shattering Mother Brain's glass canister instantly and making the apparition's eye widen in shock as it speaks once more towards the heroes _"You…You are not of this world…" _

Riku flinches briefly, surprised that the apparition was aware of his existence despite it previous repeating events that had happened when it was still alive…But maybe it wasn't Mother Brain that was speaking to him, but rather Dark Samus through the Phazon that gave birth to this apparition. Whatever the case, the teenage Overlord arched his eyebrows in determination and never acknowledged the apparition's words as he quickly unleashed a swirling stream of miniature Phazon meteors that bombard the dark-red eye and make its flickering form become more solidified as the natural red and black colors of its membrane, spikes and wires appears in a glowing neon form.

All of this happened in the span of time it took Samus to slide down to the bottom lip of the wall, and with his job done Riku quickly nodded his head to pass things off to the hunter. She leaps off of the wall, spinning around in mid-air a couple of times before landing on the platform as the teenage Overlord jumps and levitates back onto the ledge behind him. Samus aims her arm cannon at the Mother Brain, showing no hesitation in her actions as she readies her missiles and unleashes them nonstop at the emotionless membrane, giving it not a second single to fight back with its single laser beam attack as each explosion darkens the skin of the Mother Brain. Unlike Kraid, there is no cries coming, for the unit is incapable of anything besides emotionless dictation.

Eventually Samus' barrage comes to a close, and with the Mother Brain now colored a decaying dark brown a series of miniature explosions covers its body as the hunter cocks her weapon in the air and sees the apparition perish before her very eyes. Left behind on the center of the capsule are two more Phazon spheres, one containing a swirling mass of water while the other contains a split egg-like pod with multiple streams of electric flowing between them. Samus picks up the second sphere, and her arm cannon starts coursing with electricity as the armor states "Wave Beam Systems Online…" With the energy in her weapon glowing purple, the hunter aims at the purple door beyond the capsule and shoots three curved streams of purple electricity that strikes at the center of the door and opens it as a test run of her reacquired beam.

Riku leaps over to the capsule and picks up his sphere, once again feeling the painful strain of Phazon entering his body and feeding the spores, which once again increase in size with pulsating spurts as the teenage Overlord feels the root of Phazon on his face crawling further along towards the right tip of his lips. However, as he is further corrupted a glowing dark-blue ring surrounds the feet of his armor and rises up, changing the color of his PED Suit from a flaming red to a dark-purple, causing it to mirror the coloring of Samus' Gravity Suit. The hunter turns her head back and notices this change, but before she can comment on it directly something disrupts both heroes' train of thought.

The whole planet starts to tremble violently, the whole of Tourian breaking apart bit by bit around the two heroes as Phazon slowly begins to disintegrate assumedly now that all the apparitions connected had been defeated in Zebes. However, a voice calls out through the remnants of Phazon, a chilling tone being taken as it says to the heroes _"Depart now…Or perish upon the land you call home, Samus…" _

It was a threat, and Samus realized as the danger sirens in Tourian blared loudly around her that the threat would be carried out through the destruction of Zebes itself. This very thought brought unimaginable anger upon the hunter's mind, but she kept a calm demeanor outside of her mind as she faced Riku and declared to him "We need to get off the planet now!"

The teenage Overlord didn't need to be told twice on what to do, and with an obedient nod of his head after Samus turned towards the open door the two heroes zipped straight of the collapsing Tourian and entered Brinstar, quickly dodging the falling debris around them as they climbed a short shaft and made it to the tunnel that Riku traveled through before upon first entering the caverns of Zebes. Making sure to leap over the hole in the ground, the two heroes kick up their pace to make it through the final stretch of dark caverns, Samus' Speed Booster activating to light the way as the gunship's figure grew ever closer but the tremors became much stronger and the ground itself began to crack apart below the legs of the hunter's ship.

Samus and Riku get onto the ship with a great deal of urgency on their minds. The hunter slips into her seat and quickly activates the thrusters, taking one quick glance at Zebes with a scowl on her face towards Dark Samus as a rocky arch crumbles off to the side and a plume of light-blue Phazon erupts from the crack in front of them, rising high off into space with the Samus phantom making one more appearance here as the hunter takes off from the planet's surface, following the Phazon cloud out past the planet's atmosphere before it compresses and zips through the galaxy at speeds so fast that Samus doesn't get a chance to track where its going.

Now high above the planet, the hunter keeps going forward expecting all too well to hear the resounding boom of Zebes' destruction behind her as a solemn look crosses her face. However that action never occurs, and after widening her eyes in surprise she turns the ship around and sees that Zebes is still intact. Riku is also surprised to find that the planet survived such powerful tremors, but the answer to his pondering would come in the form of a hologram of the Aurora Unit-242 that spawns in front of Samus' face. _"We received a danger alert from your ship just a moment ago and checked the condition of Zebes to make sure that everything was ok…I don't know what you did, but despite the damage to the planet Phazon has been completely purged from there…Good job, Samus."_

The hunter, letting out a sigh of relief, says to the Aurora Unit "We determined that the Phazon Dark Samus spread is creating apparitions of the enemies I encountered, and upon defeating the Mother Brain apparition I can only assume that Dark Samus' grip on the planet vanished and the Phazon she planted returned to her…"

"_We can only make assumptions on that last part, Samus…We have no idea just where the dark hunter went off to, we can only determined which planet's she has corrupted with Phazon…" _The Aurora Unit responds mechanically. _"Further investigations are underway, but for now you should go to Tallon IV and deal with the Phazon there…Also, do not worry about checking the Impact Crater…All Leviathan seeds have remained inactive even after Dark Samus returned, so your 'apparitions' will not be found there."_

The Aurora Unit quickly signs off after that parting advice, and after another sigh of relief towards the survival of Zebes Samus turns to face Riku who has been standing behind the entire time in silence with his arms folded in front of his armored chest. "So, we'll be going to the origin place of those Metroids were fought in Tourian…This should prove interesting…"

Samus stares at Riku for a few seconds, pondering a few things to herself as the boy blinks twice and asks "What's up?" When she becomes unresponsive during that period of time. After tapping her fingers against the arms of her chair, Samus turns it around to face the wheel and says to the boy "I have an idea in mind for finding the other apparitions…I'll tell you about it once we arrive at Tallon IV."

Samus then taps a couple buttons to start up the thrusters, guiding the gunship around to ready the hyper drive as Riku blinks some more and says with intrigue in his voice "Oh, alright then Samus."

The teenage Overlord then unfurls his arms and thinks _"I should probably update Adam on everything that has transpired…But I'll wait until I get a free moment on Tallon IV to contact him." _

Samus sets the coordinates for Tallon IV, which thankfully doesn't lie that far away from Zebes, so Riku wouldn't have to deal with the compression of the wormhole for very long. As the gunship prepares to depart, the teenage Overlord's eyebrows arch downward in a somber manner as he ponders the purpose in Dark Samus' plans in his mind _"What does Dark Samus gain from bringing back Mother Brain, Kraid and Ridley as apparitions of Phazon? …Actually, what does she gain from corrupting Zebes at all? Her motives just don't make any sense right now…And considering how she is even more enigmatic than Samus herself I wonder if I'll ever find out the truth…" _Riku is left with these thoughts as Samus' gunship zips into the wormhole to head towards Tallon IV, the very birthplace of the dark hunter the teenage Overlord is trying to discern the motives of at that very moment…

_Next Time: The Titan Born of Corruption_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Phazon Titan Thardus**

Like before, Samus' gunship zips right out of hyperspace, floating high above a barren planet that looks very similar to Zebes in atmosphere save for a single patch of greenery and burning magma beyond it. The hunter takes the ship down from space and towards the planet's light-blue atmosphere, digging through the heat of the descent and entering a violent array of storm clouds that crackle and bombard the ship with lightning. Though the ship shakes around with each bolt struck against the surface, Samus is able to keep the gunship steady until she breaks the clouds and finds the ship bombarded with rain drops.

For a moment, the hunter floats above an elevated patch of grassy rock that is pocketed between a series of ridged walls. However, she quickly passes on by that area and heads towards a large crater beyond the ledge of an ancient temple, whose Chozo Statues have been tainted by Phazon and are slowly being replaced with floating, phantasmal effigies of Dark Samus herself. As Samus gives an angered glare at the Phazon warrior's blasphemy, Riku goes on to ask "Hey…Shouldn't we have parked the gunship back there? It was a wide open area after all."

"We aren't going to keep the ship parked…" Samus responds, confusing the teenage Overlord before she goes on to say "I'm going to take us to the Phendrana Drifts, since that's one of the more secluded parts of Tallon IV, and then I can discuss the method we are going to use to find the apparitions on each planet from here on out."

With the hunter's words Riku finds partial reason to put his faith towards her, and he proceeds to lean back and wait for the hunter to reach the icy domain. The rain clouds eventually part and are replaced with fluffy white ones that drop snow down onto the lands below that consist of plateau-like elevations and icy lakes. However, the landscapes isn't shown to Riku for long as the bounty hunter descends from the skies towards a lone platform raised high above a shoulder-high pool of corrupted water. There is just enough space on the platform for the legs to spread across on thankfully.

Once the gunship's ignition is turned off, Samus quickly turns to face the teenage Overlord and says to him "Now then, I'm going to need a sample of your blood."

The statement was straightforward and surprising to Riku, who immediately went on to ask "How is my blood going to help us find the apparitions?"

Samus, who is busy digging into her compartments in search of a particular tool, nonchalantly mentions to the boy "Right now your blood has traces of Phazon in it. I can imagine that the corruption isn't very strong at the moment, but the little bit you do have will allow me to use the ship's scanners to detect anything similar to your Phazon…"

"Even though these are ghosts we are dealing with?" Riku points out.

The bounty hunter nods her head and draws out a small needle attached to a tube connected to the computer itself. "I'm not used to drawing blood from people…" Samus points out as she looks awkwardly at the needle.

After a momentary pause, the hunter faces the boy and hesitantly asks him "Do you have any experience in the matter?"

Riku shakes his head, and seeing as Samus doesn't want to risk permanent bodily harm she quietly says "…Well, so much for this idea then." And begins to put the needle away.

The teenage Overlord raises his hand though while she still has partial vision on him, saying with an optimistic voice "Don't worry about it Samus, there's still a way for us to get blood from my body."

With a theory on his mind, Riku uses a thought to dispel his weapon and reaches for the glove below, pulling it off with a light tug to reveal his skin underneath. The veins are more prominent than usual thanks to the Phazon in his body, but that will just make it easier for him to know where to pull blood from. What he was about to do was something he had never attempted before, but believed that it was in his capabilities to do based on his knowledge. With his left hand floating above his palm, Riku grunts in pain as he focuses on the veins underneath his skin, gently weaving the blood through his veins and skin cells one molecule at a time until he has formed a large enough sphere of blood to give to Samus.

Though it was hard to tell through the visor, Riku was drained of a lot of energy from doing that action, but Samus didn't comment on the matter as she quickly popped the needle off of the tube and let the teenage Overlord send the blue-dotted dark red blood orb into it. The blood flows into a flask in the ship to be examined by the mainframe, which after a few seconds results in a map of Phendrana Drifts that Samus downloaded from her suit into the computer to pop up across the window behind where the hunter currently sits. Flipping her chair around, Samus pays attention to a single blip of light that is in a circular area to the west of their current location. Recognizing the apparition this blip belongs to, the hunter says to the ship "Extend scan range to cover Phazon Mines, Chozo Ruins and Magmoor Caverns."

The map's range broadens to encompass most of the areas Samus specified save for Phazon Mines, which the voice in the ship points out that there is "Insufficient Phazon for this range of scanning" when it tries to extend to that area. However despite the broadened range of the map only one blip is still visible in Phendrana Drifts. This was good enough for Samus though, and with a cold voice she commands the ship to download the updated map data into her suit. Via a holographic projection around the hunter's Varia Suit, the ship successfully inputs all needed information into her systems in a matter of seconds, all the while Riku puts his glove back on and summons forth his weapon ready to head into the Phendrana Drifts.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm there and I'm glad you were able to give me a blood sample, but we can't head off just yet…" Samus says as she leans forward slightly and begins to work around the control panel of her ship.

"How come?" Riku asks, his left hand grasped around the left barrel of his weapon as he perks his eyebrows up and stares at what the hunter is doing.

"With the amount of Phazon I can see in this area I can't imagine the ship being safe on this platform for long. I need to program the ship to stay high enough above the planet so it can be in range for remote commands. This is going to take me a few minutes, so if you want to get your energy back after drawing blood go walk around underneath the ship until I'm ready…" Samus has a brief moment of empathy towards the boy in regards to his momentary fatigue from the blood draw, and Riku takes note of this and says "Thank you" before he turns around and heads to the elevator to descend.

The heating in his armor takes hold as he enters Phendrana Drifts, helping him deal with the sub arctic temperatures surrounding him. Riku decides to focus on calling Adam to let him know about the apparitions, especially since this is the first time he has had a chance to do so since falling into Zebes' deepest caverns. The teenage Overlord checks his connection with a light tap, and after seeing that it was good he patches in to Adam's line and is greeted with a surprised _"Riku? What's going on right now?"_

"You haven't heard that Zebes has been cured of Phazon?" Riku says in response to that inquiry.

Adam says through the line _"I've been busy dealing with some other matters alongside the Dark Samus incident, and news hasn't traveled to me about your efforts thus far. Though I am glad to hear that you were successful in purging Phazon from Zebes…From now on, it would be wise to let me know when you have dealt with a planet since it would be faster to do so."_

"Not a problem." Riku replies quickly. "Speaking of which, we actually encountered a couple of interesting problems on Zebes."

"_Run them by me." _Adam says without hesitation.

"Tell me Adam, do you believe in ghosts? Whether you do or not, we actually came across a few of them in Zebes. They were born from Phazon and took on the form of enemies Samus had encountered in the past." Riku explains to the Commander.

"…_Hmm, apparitions you say? That sounds familiar, now that you mention it. Is there anything else you need to mention to me?"_ Adam calmly asks after pausing to think about the Phazon ghosts.

"Oh yeah, Zebes nearly blew up once we defeated all of the apparitions. The Phazon was pulling itself right out of the planet, possibly to head back to whatever base of operations Dark Samus has set up, but I can't fathom just why the disappearance of Phazon would cause the planet to start a self-destruct sequence." Riku says. He avoided mention of the mysterious Samus-like phantom that they encountered before facing the Mother Brain along with the dialogue spoken directly to him that suggested sentience, at least until he finds out more about the ghosts themselves.

"_That's another mystery that I'll have to put some effort into solving. But from the sounds of things escaping the planet prevents it from detonating, so just keep getting off world in time and we won't run into any problems. As for the ghosts, I'm going to do a little research and get back to you in a bit…Before I sign off though, I'm inclined to ask how things are going between you and Samus." _Adam is straight to the point in his words, which pleases Riku greatly all things considered.

"Samus is a little more tolerant of my presence, but I think she just sees me as a means of dealing with the Phazon apparitions for the time being instead of an actual partner." Riku adds a light chuckle to the end of his sentence, showing that he wasn't all too displeased with the results so far, and Adam himself chuckles on the other line in turn.

"_Like I said before, just don't be too reckless and eventually she'll see you as a partner. But don't let things go beyond that…The last thing Samus needs is to grow attached to another Phazon corrupted person that ends up getting killed by her when they go out of control. Anyways, I'm taking up your time here, so I'm going to get to researching the apparitions…" _Adam's line cuts before Riku can comment on the mention of Samus' old Phazon infected allies…Perhaps it was for the best though that he didn't say anything, for only a second later does the teenage Overlord hear the elevator descending behind him with the hunter on the platform.

After she leaves the ship, the elevator retracts into the ship and the legs become wings once more. With the engines flaring to life Samus' gunship flies off out of sight beyond the foggy white clouds, leaving Riku to stare at the path the ship flies as he asks "So you setup an autopilot for your ship?"

Samus nods her head, saying calmly to the boy as she looks towards the east "I'm keeping it above the atmosphere out of range of all Phazon on the planet. From here on out we'll be relying on a map I've downloaded into my suit to traverse Tallon IV. Follow my lead and you won't get lost." Samus then points towards a door ahead of her, this one having a six-sided format to it with a two-dimensional barrier protecting the door itself.

Samus opens the door with a power beam shot, leaping off of the platform and onto the icy ledge with Riku following close behind as they head on to the next area. Surprisingly, there is not much in the way of Phazon in this part of Phendrana Drifts, but that's likely because the only thing of note in this room is a small tunnel drilled perfectly into the center of the snowy incline. Only Samus would be able to fit through the hole with her Morph Ball, something the hunter was prepared to turn and make note of when Riku brandishes his right hand and says without concern in his voice "I can manage a way around the pipe, just wait for me on the other side."

Samus pauses before nodding her head, and after curling up into the space of her Morph Ball she rolls into the tube. The innards beyond the opening are covered on the outside by long Phazon roots, the enemies that were once in this area having vanished probably from being overloaded by corruption. With the speed of the hunter's roll she makes it to the other side in six seconds, and after unfurling from her ball she sees Riku standing right in front of her. Her heart skips a beat in surprise, but after composing herself she asks "How did you get here so quickly?"

Riku points a thumb up towards the ceiling, a couple droplets of water falling in front of him as Samus looks up and notices that a hole has been burned in the snow. With the answer present in a non-verbal format, Samus doesn't say another word and proceeds on ahead towards the door ahead of her, which has a purple barrier in front of it that would require the use of her reacquired Wave Beam in order to open the way. The barrel reconfigures itself on her right arm, widening out an releasing an array of purple sparks as she unleashes the tri-way shot at the barrier to dispel it and open the way to the next room.

The first thing beyond the door is a snowy ledge that leads into large circular domed pit that is kept supported by four thick stone pillars along the walls. Phazon has grasped itself onto these pillars though, and the tight clasp threatens the stability of the pillars as cracks are drawn across their surfaces from beyond the undersides of the roots themselves. But beyond the walls the Phazon doesn't touch the surface of the vivid snow, though the blue glow beneath the lengthy layers of white flakes suggests that the corruption is buried underneath. The only other thing of note is the large pile of rocks in the center of the room, most of which were roughly bigger than Samus and Riku combined. It was the remains of one of the enemies that the hunter had conquered on Tallon IV, and Samus herself was surprised to see that the remains of the foe had not been recovered by the Space Pirates before they departed from the planet.

Leaping down from the ledge and into the midst of the snowy dome, Samus recalls that there is a widened rail hanging across the walls and ceiling of the room that leads to the blue-shielded door on the other side of the room that the two of them would need to enter to reach the Phazon Mines. However Samus' current capabilities rendered her incapable of using these rails, for the dark hunter had absconded with her Spider Ball power. Riku leaps down behind Samus a moment after the hunter despised what her dark counterpart had done in her mind, and the boy comments in a puzzled tone "Say, didn't the reading mention something about a powerful Phazon signature in this very room?"

Samus had not forgotten that little detail, but says in a cold voice "It seems that the scanner was reacting to the remnants of Thardus in this room. Considering Thardus is made of stone there is no way that he could have an apparition here."

Riku was still a little cautious though, which was a surprising contrast to Samus' brief moment of naivety as he was quick to point out "But wouldn't the scanner only work on active quantities of Phazon? …Huh?" The teenage Overlord pauses at the end of his inquiry upon noticing odd moving in front of his line of sight. Leaping down from the ledge he was just on is that phantom of Samus that the two had seen earlier on Zebes. As phantom hunter landed in front of the real deal the room began to quake as Phazon was drawn out from below the snow, a multitude of flakes joining in the ensuing maelstrom surrounding the pile of rocks in the center of the room.

The rocks shake back and forth, the clattering of their forms against each other ending in a matter of seconds as the stones rise from the ground and merge together tightly, forming a colossal stone titan that looks nothing like any creature that has ever been born into the universe that Samus has traversed. The only thing that could be described about this mighty titan is that neither of its hands are alike in size, with the fingers on the left hand being substantially bigger than those on the right. The same matter applies to the feet, but the right one has the distinction of having toes whereas the left one does not have that luxury. There are also two large diamond like rocks floating behind the creature's main body, and contrary to what Samus witnessed before the titan Thardus uses these rocks to draw on the power of Phazon in the very atmosphere around him. A whirlwind of corruption is drawn out from the walls and ground, covering Thardus completely as it lets out a beckoning roar. The whirlwind of Phazon snaps apart, leaving between the many gaps on the titan a field of blue and purple electricity born of the corruption, empowering him greatly.

"…I never accounted for the possibility of Thardus simply coming back to life." Samus quickly and calmly says as she points her arm cannon at the titan and immediately spreads the barrel apart to fire a missile straight at the creature's body. The Phazon sparkles from around him, thrusting in various streams that target the missile heading his way and blow it up, the titan roaring before it charges forth like an unstoppable juggernaut across the snow to try and attack the hunter herself.

Samus is surprised by Thardus' speed and quickly proclaims to Riku to split up, and boy leaping to the right after a momentary nod as the hunter leaps back to avoid the titan's well-placed punch that impacts with the ground and sends a shockwave of Phazon across the top of the snow. Using the magnetic plates on the bottom of her feet along with the grip of her right fingers, Samus sticks to the wall below the ledge she entered from and activates her scan visor to see how this new Thardus works. Before she finishes though the titan pulls his fist from the ground and prepares a shoulder ram to dislodge the hunter from the wall. Disconnecting herself from the wall with a mighty leap, Samus launched herself over Thardus as the titan slammed into the ledge and dismantled the entire thing into a pile of rubble and snow as the very foundation of the room quivered.

Once Samus lands behind the titan she reactivates her visor to finish the scan on Thardus, revealing to her a few lines of text that state that "Ascended Thardus' power is coming from the two giant stones near his back. The Phazon around his body is electromagnetic in origin, high-impact weapons like missiles are ill-advised. Destroy the stones and he will crumble."

With the advice given to her by the scanner, Samus activates her Wave Beam functionality and aims at the specified giant rocks while the titan's fist is lodged into the wall. She charges up a shot and launches the electric sphere at the rocks from the lip of her cannon, the attack impacting with the jagged point and dispersing a static effect across the backside. Thardus turns around after taking this damage, bringing with him the remnants of the cliff side he struck that fly away from his fingers and crash down around the hunter as she braces herself with a defensive stance. The Wave Beam didn't do much damage to the targeted area, as evidenced by the scan she performs that reveals that it has a "99% shield".

"Figures that the Wave Beam wouldn't work in his new state…" Samus murmurs to herself as she lowers her arm, and with a leap back to avoid another punch from Thardus the hunter sees a few streams of fire flying across the sky that pierce right through the rocks that are holding the Phazon together around the titan. Thardus doesn't react to the damage, his fist being dragged out of the ground in an almost marionette manner as Samus notices a change on the numbers for the titan's shields. "92% for the left…86% for the right…" She murmurs as she turns her head and glances at Riku hovering in mid-air with his double-barreled cannon extended in front of his body.

"…Riku, keep using your plasma beam on Thardus and try to breech his defenses! When an opening is available I'll attack it with my missiles." Samus locks her arm cannon into Power Beam mode and grasps the top of the barrel with her left hand, preparing to provide cover fire for the teenage Overlord since the titan is entirely focused on her at the moment.

She performs a mighty leap to the left the moment Thardus rips part of the ground up, crunching it with his bulky fingers above the hunter so a bombardment of Phazon electricity shrouded rock shards rain down upon her. With a rapid fire of Power Beam shots Samus keeps blasting apart the rocks to minimize their threat level while Riku levitates counterclockwise around Thardus to get a clearly lined up shot at his back rocks. The boy was thankful that he wouldn't have to use Hyper Mode to damage the titan, since the strain of dragging the blood from his arm was still affecting him slightly. Three plasma shots go out, melting separate holes right through the two stones and heavily damaging them.

Thardus finally takes notice of the teenage Overlord though, and with a mighty roar the titan spreads sparks of Phazon across the dome and drags the flakes of snow up to create a thick white veil that makes visibility scarce in order to throw his aggressors off. Riku flinches first, lowering his weapon slightly to give himself a better line of sight as he exclaims out Samus' name to figure out just where the hunter was. Before she could respond though the titan charges at him, using the echoes of his voice to track him down and slam the front of his rocky right palm against his armor and press him hard against the nearby wall. A crack resounds through the armor, and from the pain inflicted on his body Riku grits his teeth as warning sirens go off inside of his helmet.

"_Darn it, if I don't free myself quickly Thardus will breech my armor and force me into Hyper Mode with his Phazon!" _Riku thinks in a panic as he tries to fight against the strength of the titan to drag his weapon out. The bulk of the double-barrels proved too much to allow him to budge free, but as the boy's armor was about to break and the Phazon surely about to leak in the boy quickly thought up a plan of action. With a thought Riku dispelled his weapon, making his arm small enough to slip free of Thardus' grasp before the titan applies more pressure to owe up for the loss of mass. With the double-barrels aimed straight at the titan's face Riku charges up his plasma beam energy and unleashes a powerful meteor strike that impacts with Thardus' face and blows it clean off.

The resulting explosion knocks Thardus back a few feet, his grip on Riku's body releasing as the snow veil fades away and gives the bewildered Samus perfect vision once more. The hunter turns around and upon noticing a distortion in the titan's body jabs her arm cannon in the direction of his back stones, charging up and launching a Super Missile straight through the sky until it explodes upon the left one and the blast radius swallows part of the right rock. The missile shot was a direct hit, seeing as the shielding on the left side was brought down past the halfway point while the right one was down to 68%.

Riku kicks himself off of the wall after reactivating his back thrusters, pointing them directly behind his body to give him the perfect launch speed. While the electric Phazon field was still down around Thardus the teenage Overlord took his sturdy double-barreled cannon and charged another shot up, getting close to where the giant stones floated and pressing the lips of the barrels against them before unleashing a close-range meteor that explodes and blows the left rock right apart. The teenage Overlord then flips once through the air to put his feet towards the ground, making a soft skidding landing on the snow before swiftly turning around and watching as Thardus' entire left side crumbles apart into the snow.

And without half of his body supporting him, the rest of Thardus soon crumbles apart as well, but the titan tries one last futile attempt to strike back at the heroes…Twisting the left half of its body around as it falls, the titan throws a pitifully sized stone covered in Phazon at the hunter, who calmly raises her arm cannon and blasts the stone apart with a single tiny shot. With Thardus defeated all that remains in the pile of crumbled rocks is a hologram representing a magnetically charged version of Samus' Morph Ball and a Phazon Sphere with the element of Earth trapped within.

The hunter quickly walks up to her power-up and collects it without so much as a second thought. When the words of "Spider Ball Reactivated" are heard within her helmet Samus curls up into her new Spider Ball state, revealing a dent on both sides of the ball itself that glows in the same color as the core she is stuck in right now. Transparent glass helps the Spider Ball keep its rounded shape while slits along the center of the ball itself assist the hunter in magnetizing to certain metal objects so she can crawl along walls and ceilings. After making sure that the Spider Ball was as familiar as it was before, Samus unfurls and stands up around Thardus' remains. She then turns her head, wondering just why the boy hadn't yet gone to reclaim another one of his powers.

Simply put, Riku felt reluctant to take this power back after the pain brought onto him the last two times thanks to the furthering of his corruption. Sure he needed to have all of his elements back sometime, but will the return of his powers really be worth it if he loses himself completely and endangers the galaxy by becoming Dark Samus' puppet? Each power he regains brings him closer and closer to that almost inevitable conclusion haunting him in his mind. "…" Riku closes his eyelids and takes a deep breath in, realizing that he cannot avoid this matter. He might need this element for what lies ahead, and though he walks with reluctance on his mind he eventually reacquires the Earth element with a swing of his right hand through the orb.

Immediately grasped by an even stronger feeling of pain, Riku can sense the roots of Phazon crawling further along his face, the vision in his right eye growing bluer and speckled as he tries to bear the agony with teeth grit a light bemoan coming from between them that Samus notices yet says nothing about as the boy blinks twice and notes in a puzzled voice "That's weird…Nothing feels different."

Riku turns towards the hunter, who after flinching in surprise that the boy can so easily change his thoughts away from the pain of Phazon corruption, asks in a calm voice "You reacquired the Earth element, right?"

Riku blinks, surprised that Samus noticed that factoid so quickly despite most of her focus being spent on the Spider Ball she just re-obtained, nods his head and asks "Why, do you have a theory on what happened to my body?"

"Considering you got the Earth element from Thardus, I can only assume that you just gained the ability to curl up into a 'Morph Ball' like form on your own. Try and see if you can do it before we move on." After Samus made that suggestion, Riku blinks twice and murmurs "Oh yeah…" because he didn't actually think about that possibility until the hunter mentioned it.

With his eyelids closed and his mind deep in thought, Riku concentrated on the Earth element inside of his body, utilizing it in conjunction with his armor as he feels his body becoming surprisingly weightless. When he can't feel a single aspect of his body anymore, Riku widens his eyelids and finds himself covered in a transcendent glowing light, his body completely devoid of any armor as he sees himself floating curled up in a bright, otherworldly dimension. Outside of this dimension lied a spherical, rocky mass that he had become encased in thanks to the Earth element responding to the laws of this universe at its owner's command. Now that he was in this rocky sphere, Riku said in an echoing voice "Whoa…Is this what happens when you turn into a Morph Ball Samus?"

The hunter, having no idea as to what the boy was referring to, only assumed that his knowledge of her power-ups led him to make that comment and she responded with "Yeah. It feels weird at first, but you get used to it after a while. Though I imagine your method of becoming a Morph Ball works differently than the Chozo tech I use." After the hunter made that comment Riku unfurled from the rocky sphere completely armored, the rocks themselves vanishing without a trace just as mysteriously as they came to exist in the first place.

"Well, that solves the tunnel problem at the very least." Riku comments merrily before facing Samus, saying in a dutiful voice "So then, are we still going to head off to Phazon Mines?"

The hunter nods her head, noting in a calm yet partially authoritative voice "Follow my lead and we'll be there in no time. Hopefully we can find the main apparition on this planet before more start popping up for us to deal with…"

With Samus' remark answered by a nod of Riku's head, the two heroes look towards the incline on the other side of where they entered from, and with the help of their respective Morph Balls' powers they manage to climb to the front of the purple-barrier door. Samus uses her Wave Beam to open the way out of Thardus' former chamber, and the heroes proceed onward to the treacherous Phazon Mines…

_Next Time: A Phazon Pirate…Ghost?_


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes:**

Still trying to get back into the swing of things, so updates will be a little late for the next couple of weeks. I refuse to give up on this though, so just keep reviewing and commenting and the chapters will come whenever they can!

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Pirate Ghost**

After defeating the mighty reborn titan Thardus in the Space Pirates' former quarantine room in Phendrana Drifts and using their Morph Ball upgrades to scale the nearby Cliffside, the heroes arrive in a small room with a single elevator suspended in place by about four latches around its circumference. In front of the elevator lies a panel that the hunter is capable of scanning to activate it. With a click of her visor Samus mumbles out to Riku "This elevator will take us to Magmoor Caverns…From there we will be able to make a quick trip over to the Phazon Mines."

Turning her head to the side as a symbol of the Chozo of Tallon IV appears in an orange holographic manner at the center of the elevator. With a bit of concern in her voice the hunter asks "Do you think your suit will be heat resistant?"

Riku nods his head in response, saying with a grin of confidence "I was in the deeper parts of Norfair and everything seemed just fine with my systems, so I can imagine that Magmoor Caverns won't give me much trouble."

Samus nods slowly in agreement, and with nothing else to say between them the two heroes walked onto the center of the elevator and watched as the hologram disappeared and the latches sprang up to release the elevator. The heroes descend rapidly, the platform they stand on being guided to the bottom of the incredibly long and dimly lit shaft by four iron bars in the corners. The occasional beam of light shone through the slits in the walls, the heat projected from them slowly growing warmer as they neared the volcanic caverns of Tallon IV. As they quickly left the icy domain of Phendrana behind them, Riku faced the backside of the hunter as she appeared to be deep in thought and asked her "Samus, what do you think your dark counterpart is up to?"

It was a question that was on his mind that he felt the hunter herself would also be thinking about, but it takes a moment for him to receive a response as Samus coldly tilted her head to the left and glared at him before saying in stoic puzzlement "I assumed that Dark Samus was planning on corrupting planets again to take over the galaxy, but these apparitions prove that theory invalid. There is no way of knowing just what that abomination plans to do until we confront it…" The hunter turns to face forward and proceeds to say "Right now, all we can do is get rid of these apparitions one planet at a time…"

Riku's mouth is made partially agape out of surprise towards Samus' lack of a true answer regarding the dark hunter's motives, but after putting on a neutral expression the boy nods his head once in agreement of what their main focus would be and decided to keep any further theories on the dark hunter's motives to himself. After that conversation had come to pass, the elevator came to a slow and sudden stop at the very bottom of the shaft. The humid air is just barely countered by the frigid sensation still lingering on the armors of the two heroes, and Riku knew that this feeling of warmth would be replaced with a more searing sensation outside of his armor once the two heroes passed through the door in front of them.

After the elevator has been locked into place by another set of latches, Samus walks forward slowly and uses her arm cannon to undo the shield and open the door behind it, welcoming the influx of heat on the other side with stoicism as she enters the room with Riku following not too far behind. To be expected from a volcanic domain, the air in the room is painted with a thin red-orange hue, the rocks either brown or black in color and the ceilings crawling with stalagmites galore. However, because of the Phazon that has dug its way into this planet, the lava underneath the grated floor below where the heroes stand is light-blue, with the bones of some poor creature being entangled in the grasp of the vines that crawling between the holes in the grates themselves.

Samus barely bats an eye at what she sees, her focus moving more towards the blue-barrier door on the eastern end of the room that stands at the top of a few elevated metal platforms that have grown a few Phazon shrooms on their surfaces. While the two heroes head over to the door, Riku preemptively shoots at the shrooms to detonate them so the spores won't attach to his armor by the time he makes it there. Samus opens the door with a single power beam shot, and the heroes make their way inside of a winding tunnel that has a cooler air to it than the room the two were in just briefly. Near the end of the tunnel is a metallic six-sided passage with holographic, glass-like blue windows that are barely holding back the Phazon that has latched to the metal bindings.

As the holograms briefly fade in and out of view, Samus and Riku look at the end of the tunnel and are surprised to see that the door that is usually there has been blown apart at the seams, meaning that the barrier that would usually protect it is gone. The hunter takes a moment to kneel down and examine one of the door fragments that had fallen on the ground in front of the door, and after a few moments of looking at how the fragment is bent she comes to an obvious conclusion and notes to Riku as she stands back up "Whatever type of explosion caused this door to come apart came from inside…"

Samus pointed on ahead and proceeded to say "Be careful, the Phazon Mines were set up by the Space Pirates, and there's a likely chance they came back to try and acquire some more Phazon for themselves."

The two heroes traverse on ahead, making their way around one more heated curve of this volcanic tunnel until they arrived at a more technologically advanced passage whose walls and machinery appear similar in aesthetics to the six-sided tunnel they just passed through moments ago. It appears as though there should be an elevator at the end of the passage, but instead there is a malfunctioning panel in front of where the platform should be along with a long shaft leading further down into the depths of Tallon IV. "It seems as though the explosion also took out the elevator…Thankfully we don't have to ascend to reach the Phazon Mines from here, so lets get a move on." Riku says in regards to what he sees.

Samus and Riku leap down the shaft, with the teenage Overlord activating his back thrusters to slowly descend while the hunter hangs against the side of the shaft and slowly grinds down with the help of the magnetic plates on her feet. It takes quite a long time for the heroes to make it to the very bottom of the shaft, but when they do they find the burning wreckage of the elevator platform lying in a ankle-deep pit. Judging by the size of flames, the platform had been destroyed just recently, a suspicious act if there ever was one.

Samus leaps off of the wall she was descending along and makes lands in front of the door out of this room while Riku hovers forward, taking a glance at the wreckage before he himself lands and asks the hunter "What do you think happened here?"

"Dark Samus probably destroyed the platform when it came here to spread Phazon. The other likely explanation is that the elevator short-circuited after whatever explosion came through this area." Samus offers her thoughts on the subject as she looks on ahead and notices another door has been blown off in front of her. Squinting her eyelids, the hunter goes on to say "…If anything, the Space Pirates must have recently destroyed this facility to tie up any loose ends regarding Phazon."

As both heroes walk down the passage beyond the door, Riku tilts his head slightly and asks "So does that mean we won't encounter any Space Pirates here?" with hopeful optimism in his voice.

"If our visit is short, yes." Samus responds with stoicism. "They will likely notice the return of Phazon if we don't deal with the problem quickly, and for once I'd like to avoid encountering them."

The conversation ends right as the heroes truly enter the Phazon Mines. The first room they encounter is a expansive one with a large glass window lying off to the left that gives a grand view of the decaying remains of the Leviathan that first brought Phazon to Tallon IV, the place where it arrived aptly named the "Impact Crater" by both the Space Pirates and the Chozo that once lived there. After glancing briefly at the gargantuan seed, Samus' eyes widen as she notices the tip of some Phazon roots at the bottom of her vision. Tilting her head down as she walks to the edge of the hallway allows the hunter to see a large pool of Phazon that has spread out along the floor of the mines, most of it already climbing up the walls and platforms.

Whatever isn't infected with Phazon is either wrecked or scorched thanks to a explosion that swept through the entirety of this mine. Samus blinks twice, looking down at the Phazon pool and noticing that it was just about to consume a small passage that she and Riku would be able to pass through with their respective Morph Balls. However, the Morph Ball would be consumed by the Phazon pool, so she had to wonder just how the two of them would make it to the room that she wanted to check.

"What are you looking at Samus?" The boy asks, seeing as his vision of most of the area below is obscured because of his current position.

"There was a particular room I wanted to check out to see if we could find an apparition, but there is no way to access the Morph Ball passage and with the condition the mine is in I can only imagine that it would be rather difficult to get there the long way." After Samus points out the problem at hand currently, the teenage Overlord smiles and says with confidence "Give me a couple seconds Samus, I got an idea."

Riku moves past Samus and leaps out onto a stable platform to the right of the passage, using the thrusters to cover the full distance needed and making a rather soft landing as he summons his dual-barreled cannon and kneels down, pointing the tips of the barrels towards the far edge and firing a close range plasma shot to melt two holes right through the platform itself. He moves the cannon to the edge of the rightmost hole and creates two more with another shot, moving along in specific intervals and firing more and more shots until he has broken the platforms off from the rest of the wall.

From there, Riku quickly stands up and points his weapon at the wall while the platform begins to descend from its original point. With one charged up blast that explodes right in front of him, the teenage Overlord manages to push both himself and the platform he stands on away from the wall and towards the Phazon pool. The platforms lands with a high-rising splash following soon afterwards, and after every single drop has settle back into the corrupted pool Riku turns with his back facing the passage and uses short bursts of Plasma beam energy to push the platform closer to the passage. It takes but a few seconds for the platform to be anchored in place by Phazon roots that grow out of the pool, but by then it doesn't particularly matter seeing as Riku managed to get to his destination and thus allowed both himself and Samus the ability to use their Morph Balls to proceed.

Looking up after dispelling his weapon, Riku smiles behind his visor and says as though what he did was no big deal "Come on Samus, I got us a way to access the passage."

The hunter pauses for a moment in disbelief of what she just saw, but proceeds to leap down from the ledge and land beside the teenage Overlord with an impressed air surrounding her armor as she said in a more natural tone of voice "Good work Riku, but stay sharp for what's up ahead." The hunter's warning dispels any pretenses of overconfidence in the teenage Overlord's mind, and as she curls into her Morph Ball and begins to head through the passage Riku grins and says in a jolly tone "Don't worry Samus, I'll be ready to go once I'm at the other side."

He then puts on a serious expression and transforms into his rocky Morph Ball state to follow the hunter to the other side. The passage is short but winding, and the heroes arrive at a thin platform that is low enough for Samus to stand on in spite of her statuesque height. The platform is suspended in the air by some iron strings, all of them surprisingly intact. In fact, the room itself appeared to be structurally sound in comparison to the last one the heroes went through. The expansive, rock domed area only had its computers destroyed below the walkway the heroes were on, besides that the room maintained the foreboding dark air that the hunter was deeply familiar with thanks to her last visit to this room.

On the ground were small empty craters that Phazon once lied in, and Samus was actually surprised to see not a single drop of the corrosive material in the entire room. "…This isn't right." The hunter notes as she leaps down from the walkway and lands on the stable, rocky ground with Riku descending a moment later.

"Well we only assumed that there would be an apparition in the Phazon Mines. It wasn't a definite thing." Riku points out as he gently holds his hand beside his body. The hunter shifts her head back and forth slowly, trying to determine if there is something that she might be missing as she simultaneously begins to walk forward to get a better scope of everything in the room.

"Phazon is still on Tallon IV and there isn't an apparition in any other area of this region of the planet…That means there has to be an apparition around here." Samus says with a serious dialect, but Riku is quick to respond to the hunter's assumptions with "There's still the Leviathan Seed. I know the Aurora Unit said to not bother, but who is to say that Dark Samus didn't create an apparition in there?"

"Well for one…" Before the hunter can give an answer, she senses an enemy's presence thanks to her visor and immediately pauses ready to turn around in the direction of the enemy. Riku notices Samus' uneasy pause and quickly turns around as a pale-blue glow begins to reflect off of his armor and visor. Standing tall above the two heroes is the apparition of a gigantic, mutated Space Pirate with shoulders and legs covered in glowing pods of pure Phazon that are bound in place by solid dark-blue Phazon roots. The Space Pirate was heavily armored from head to two, with the only bits of "flesh" visible being the mouth and the piercing, pupil less yellow eyes above it.

"The Omega Pirate…" Samus recognizes the apparition by name thanks to prior knowledge of the Space Pirates plans during her last trip here, and with her arm cannon raised at the apparition she arches her eyebrows downward and focused on the Omega Pirate apparition as from its ethereal body emerged liquid Phazon that splattered down into the once emptied pits.

The apparition says nothing, not even a single roar emerged from its lips as it lowered its three clawed hands and slowly begins to walk forward to confront the hunter. Riku leaps back to get out of the mutated Space Pirates path, but as he draws his weapon he smiles and says in a joking manner "So wait a second…This is a Space Pirate that has been infused with Phazon, so he's basically a zombie. And now he's a ghost…"

Samus was slightly annoyed by the joke Riku was attempting to make during this moment, but kept her cool as she berated him with "How can you joke at a time like this? Stay focused and target the Phazon pods with your Hyper Mode."

Riku flinches and shakes his head, apologizing to the hunter swiftly before returning to a state of intense focus towards the Omega Pirate apparition. He concentrates on the Phazon spores in his body and puts himself into Hyper Mode, leaping back in sync with Samus as the mutated giant draws Phazon into its bulky arms and raises them into the air with a flurry of blue sparks surrounding them as he swiftly slams his hands against the floor to create a wide shockwave that was half as tall as his body that stops mere inches away from the heroes. This attack made the pirate briefly vulnerable though, and with his weapon charged in the interim of entering Hyper Mode and leaping back Riku raises his cannon into the air and fires a large Phazon meteor that flies through the air and explodes upon making contact with the Phazon pods on the Omega Pirate's right shoulder. This has the added result of taking those very pods out, weakening the power of this mutated apparition and making him appear more solidified.

Riku tries to go for another attack on the Omega Pirate's other shoulder, but this time the mutated giant raises its left hand into the air and summons forth a swirling yellow energy vacuum that sucks in the properties of the Phazon meteor to completely negate its effectiveness against him. The teenage Overlord was surprised by his attack being stopped, but refused to be dissuaded and chose to use his speed to his advantage against the slower monstrosity. Riku zips clockwise around the Omega Pirate, waiting until he was halfway around to charge up another shot and thrust his cannon in front of his slanted, dashing body to fire off a perfectly aimed shot right at the Phazon pods on the titan's left shoulder.

The pods are blown apart, as to be expected, but this time around the Omega Pirate reacts to this damage with a quiet low-pitched growl and a slight retreat of three steps. However, Riku wasn't fearing any retaliation from the apparition, for he knew that the Omega Pirate's attacks consisted only of the shockwave he demonstrated just moments ago and a simple few shot barrage from the hand he used to drain the Phazon from his last charged shot. With his speed providing him with a clear advantage over the monstrosity, Riku quickly used two more charged shots empowered by his Hyper Mode to deal with the other pods, thus robbing the Omega Pirate apparition of all of its Phazon and making him completely solidified in the process. However, the rate of which Riku used his charged shots meant that he was already forced out of Hyper Mode, which wouldn't be a problem if the apparition was defeated by that last assault.

To restock on Phazon in the puddles around him, the Omega Pirate swiftly turns invisible and vanishes on top of one of the Phazon puddles around him with a single warp jump. Thankfully for Samus though, the Omega Pirate isn't going to summon any Beam Trooper variants. The hunter notes, however "I don't have my X-Ray Visor right now, so do you have a plan to figure out how to find the Omega Pirate?"

The inquiry was directed towards Riku as Samus scans the puddles to see if she can notice any movements, realizing not long afterwards that the ethereal body would be incapable of creating ripples in the puddles despite the fact that it was able to interact with the Phazon. Riku looks at his arm cannon and thinks to himself _"Hmm…I can't use my fire anymore, and I shouldn't risk another use of Hyper Mode right yet. Come to think about it, I have two other beam functionalities, don't I?"_

With this last thought on his mind, Riku's eyes widen and he looks towards his arm cannon, focusing his thoughts onto it to switch the color of the energy from red to a glowing white, signifying a switch to the Light element. He then points his weapon at the ceiling as a smile crosses his face, and with a brief charge of the Light element he fires a miniature glowing sphere at the middle of the sky that radiates a shining spread of rays across the battlefield. A couple of them reflect off of the surface of the Omega Pirate as it stands in the bottom right puddle, and after Samus takes notice of this she readies her arm cannon to fire a Super Missile while Riku thinks in his head _"Huh, I guess he has elements of a vampire as well…" _

The hunter releases a mighty Super Missile that flies through the air and impacts hard against the Omega Pirate's body and forces him out of his invisible state before he is able to fully absorb the Phazon from the puddle it stood in. Samus wastes no time in charging up another Super Missile and launching it, the second impact pushing the phantasmal mutation back and causing it to growl in pain. Samus fires two more Super Missiles in rapid succession, the final one forcing the Omega Pirate onto its knees as it lets out a light, dying growl. It holds its right hand out pitifully as its body begins to crumble forward, but before the apparition perishes out of existence with rapid flickers the two heroes notice the phantom of Samus appearing in front of the path of the Omega Pirate's fall. The phantom is consumed by the apparition's fallen body, and this moment makes Samus recall the acquisition of the Phazon Suit in painful detail.

But nonetheless, the apparition was done for and Samus wouldn't have to think about past experiences on Tallon IV for much longer. In the place of where the Omega Pirate once stood are two spheres, one of them containing a large glowing golden bomb and the other containing a single rose to represent the Grass element for Riku. The hunter gives a warning to the boy this time around, saying to him "You might want to be careful here…" before she walks forward and collects her sphere. "Power Bombs reacquired…" The armor states.

Samus puts herself into her Morph Ball state and drops a large glowing sphere where she stands. In a matter of seconds the sphere detonates, creating a powerful widespread explosion that expands to cover an area twenty times larger than the Morph Ball itself. Riku stands in awe of the Power Bomb demonstration, waiting until the explosion has fully subsided before he walks forward and recollects his Grass element from the Phazon sphere. Once again the corruption grows within his body, but instead of spreading further across his face the Phazon begins to root itself around his heart and becomes one with the veins spreading out from the vital organ itself. The process of corruption spreading within his innards along with the use of Hyper Mode earlier easily tire the boy out, leaving him with quiet heavy breaths as he turns his body away from Samus and holds his left fist against his chest plate, realizing only a moment later that he would be unable to feel the beats in his chest thanks to the PED Suit.

Samus unfurls from here Morph Ball state and notices Riku's stance, but before she can comment on it the ground begins to tremble much like it did when they defeated the Mother Brain apparition on Zebes. Phazon was being purged from the planet, and if the hunter and the teenage Overlord failed to escape in time then Tallon IV would vanish as well. Riku, feeling the trembles in the ground, wastes no time in looking towards the walkway in the ceiling, pulling his left hand away from his body and summoning his Grapple Beam to pull himself onto the walkway as Samus does the same thing at the exact same time. Once both heroes were on the walkway and began to dash towards the passage they used to get into this room, Riku points out "Samus, how are we going to get off the planet in time?! We can't make it out to open land from here fast enough!"

Samus, with her quick wits and even quicker fingers, uses a set of command buttons on her arm cannon that connect her armor to her ship, and she calmly says to the boy "I have an idea…Follow my lead."

The two heroes turn into Morph Balls and roll through the passage, standing up on the platform that Riku made and the hunter proceeding to look towards the windows in this room where her ship can be seen descending from the thundering skies. Its actions are partially obscured by the rising Phazon mist in this room, but from what little Riku could see he watched as the ship fired two large missiles at the window to shatter it apart instantly. Rain falls inside of the Phazon Mines as the quakes increase in intensity and the ship aligns itself with the bottom of the shattered glass, giving the heroes the perfect height for them to leap off of the platform and land on the top of the ship itself right as the Phazon leaves the mines and causes the platform to crash against the scorched floor.

The ship's top hatch opens up, allowing the heroes to drop inside. Samus then gets into her seat and shuts the hatch, getting a hold of her controls to disable the autopilot and launch the ship right off of the planet, the thrusters roaring below to lift her away of the atmosphere just in the nick of time. Tallon IV survives the Phazon purge, and once again the hazy remnants that were pulled off the planet fly away towards their home in the farthest depths of space. Samus lets out a sigh of relief, hoping deep down that the Chozo are happy about the Phazon leaving their sacred lands once more.

Riku smiles behind his visor, but after a few seconds his body begins to feel the toil of corruption and he collapses with the sides of his lying flat against the ground while he leans himself against the back of the ship and takes in a few heavy breaths. His body begins to sweat, but the droplets are thick than the average sweat and contain traces of Phazon within them. Between drawing his blood, fighting Thardus and the Omega Pirate and furthering his corruption twice fold and using Hyper Mode once, the short trip onto Tallon IV really drained Riku's energy and made him feel as though he would go unconscious at any given second.

Samus hears the sound of Riku's collapse and immediately turns around in her seat, asking with a voice of stoic concern "What's going on Riku?"

The teenage Overlord smiles behind his visor, responding in a calm voice of his own "I just overworked my body right now…Don't worry about it Samus, I just need to rest up a bit before we head off to the next planet."

"…" Samus goes silent for a moment, not being fooled in the slightest by Riku's attempt to the hide the pain of the corruption growing in his body. But before she can say anything, the Aurora Unit pops up in holographic form behind her and addresses her to grab her attention, saying in a mechanical voice _"Congratulations on freeing Tallon IV…But do not rest easy yet, a crisis has come to our attention. If you recall your previous travels to a planet called Aether, you'll remember that the presence of Phazon there split the planet in two and threatening to cause a temporal anomaly that would have more than likely spread to cover half of the known galaxy…Well thanks to your dark counterpart's efforts, that very same anomaly threatens to emerge again. That is why we ask that you quickly head to Aether and deal with the Phazon there and destroy any Ing that may have been reborn from the splitting of worlds…That is all, Samus."_

The Aurora Unit signs off after expressing the urgency of heading to Samus' next destination, but before the hunter sets the coordinates for Aether she tilts her head to look at Riku and despite knowing all too well that she would need his help if any apparitions show up on the planet she says in an empathetic tone "Rest up as long as you need to Riku…You shouldn't have to succumb to Phazon corruption by overworking your body like this." The teenage Overlord is surprised by Samus' remark, and with a smile on his face he accepts the hunter's offer and gently closes his eyes to try and relax his body as the ship departs for the split planet of Aether…

_Next Time: Second Coming_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Second Cataclysm**

Samus' gunship leaves the hyper space warp she took away from Tallon IV, her ship floating in the vastness of space miles away from a lone planet in the distance. This planet was a bit smaller than Tallon IV, but appeared to have a more thriving atmosphere at a first glance. How, the pale blue ring surrounding the planet was plagued in the upper left by an interdimesional dark purple storm that was slowly but surely spreading across the world of Aether just as the Aurora Unit had stated it would.

Directing the flight of her ship towards the planet, Samus prepared for a rough entry due to the violent lightning erupting from the dimensional storm, and with a turn of her head the hunter calmly said to her resting passenger Riku "Be ready to brace yourself if things get rough."

The teenage Overlord, having barely slipped into a state of sleep, cracks his eyelids open in a drowsy manner and looks out past the window as the planet grew larger thanks to the distance being closed at a rapid pace, and with a nod of his head he stuck to the ground and grabbed onto the most solid object in sight with his right hand to help keep him anchored. Samus' gunship dives into the atmosphere, descending at a fair enough speed that only a cone of fire appears around the nose of the ship as she enters the clouded planetary skies.

Eventually though the time came to decrease the speed of her descent to avoid a hard collision with the ground, and an average tug on the brake lever slowed the gunship to the point that Samus is able to quickly pull the ship up and glide roughly two hundred feet above the planet's surface. With only a light bump disrupting him, Riku quickly relaxed his muscles and pulls his arm away from the devices beside him, letting his limbs rest down beside his body as he leans back once more and tries to get a little rest, taking a deep breath in and out to calm his tightened heart.

Samus glances outside the window as she flies, watching in particular the advancing interdimensional storm to the west of her ship. She can only glance for moments at a time though, for she needs to pay attention to the landscapes below the ship to make sure that she doesn't miss her desired destination. The last time the hunter had traversed Aether the lands were barren thanks to the interdimensional storms ravaging all things natural in the world. But now that the planet's inhabitants the giant moth-like humanoids known as Luminoths had a chance to fix their planet, greenery was starting to bloom and bring color to the lands.

This very shrubbery, trees and flowers would all be lost once more though if the interdimesional storm brought on by the cruel ravager of existence Phazon wasn't dealt with immediately. But dealing with the reborn Dark Aether would require Samus to take different measures than she did with the other two planets, and for that reason she guided her ship towards one of the towering branches connected to a giant hive-like temple hovering above the center of the Luminoth's sacred grounds. After finding a perfect landing spot on a cliff side to the left of one of the temple entrances, Samus activated her ship's lower thrusters to help with the final descent.

The wings unfurl into legs, and a single decompression of the mechanics in the ship is all it takes to signify that the landing has gone perfectly. Samus waits for the engine to die down before she turns the ship off fully, but while she deals with this process the hunter turns her head to look at the resting Riku and whispers to him "I'm going to head into this temple. Please wait here until I return."

The teenage Overlord subconsciously nods in his bout of drowsiness, and after lifting herself up from her seat the hunter uses the lift in the back of her ship to head out into Aether. The Varia Suit adjusts to the atmosphere of the planet to help its owner survive, and with a click of her arm cannon as she steps forward the lift rises up into Samus' gunship and the self-defense system is activated on the outside. "That should do for now…" The hunter comments quietly as she takes one quick look at her ship and proceeds towards the towering branch to the northwest of her current location.

Leaping down from the ledge she landed her ship on, Samus makes it to the doorway and uses her arm cannon to undo the laser barrier so she can enter the branch itself and find a single rounded elevator inside. Much like on Tallon IV, there is a scan console off to the side of the elevator that the hunter is able to activate with her visor, and a hologram appears in the center of the elevator that once again Samus would have to step on to use. Once she does this, the elevator thrusts upward at a diagonal slant, making its way through the towering branch towards the hive-like exterior temple the Luminoth call their home.

The elevator ride is wrought with a brighter atmosphere than the previous one the hunter had to deal with, though there is still this underlying sense of darkness present within the shaft as Samus readily rises towards the very top. Whether this sensation was created by the interdimesional storms from afar or if it was a natural part of the temple itself was something the hunter couldn't determine even though this was her second time being in this particular shaft. Eventually the ride comes to an end with a sudden halt, but the strength of it is not enough to jolt Samus off of her feet. Magnetic clamps latch around the elevator to keep it in place, and the hunter gets off and begins to slowly advance through the temple.

The walls are definitely archaic in design, but if one looked closely enough some ancient technology can be found within that all appears to be functional. This very tech is clearly meant to help keep the temple suspended in the air alongside the three towering branches surrounding it on the outside. _"Its silent in here…My visor isn't picking up any signs of enemy life, meaning the Ing haven't tried an invasion of the temple grounds yet. But if I'm correct, the Ing would have to recollect the energy from the Light Energy Controllers of Aether before they could even hope to invade this temple. The only way to know for certain about the Ings' progress is to go speak to U-Mos, the Sentinel of the Luminoths…"_

With the hunter's inner monologue done with she opens the door in the front of her, surprised afterwards by the fact that there is no wall blocking the way to the central part of the temple. Samus advances on while thinking about the situation meticulously in her mind _"The Luminoth had once blocked all but one of the entrances to their temple with an encryption that could only be decoded by my visor once I obtained a translation core from the Luminoths themselves. But now despite the return of Dark Aether and the Ing the barriers haven't returned, and I can only hope that is because the Ing didn't simply go for a direct assault on the temple grounds this time around…"_

Looking towards the left of where she currently stood, the hunter made her way towards the northern door of the temple and used her arm cannon to open the path inside, finding herself in front of a grey stone platform with a couple crimson, crescent shaped marks along the edge. There were a series of glowing, see-through wires curving past the top of the ceiling that led into the room at the top floor of the temple, but in order for Samus to reach that room she had to quickly scan another console to activate the elevator in front of her.

Taking the elevator upward, Samus glances back at the gaps that give her a perfect view of the skies outdoors. The storm was advancing at a faster pace than before, and there was no doubt in the hunter's mind that the temple grounds would soon be consumed. No matter what was going on and how Samus herself could stop this madness of Dark Aether's return from happening, the storm was going to hit, and the Luminoths inside would likely barely be able to survive. And that was not even getting into the inevitable Ing assault afterwards, which would take the lives of this entire species of peaceful humanoids and leave Aether itself to the whims of the Ing.

As the elevator grinded to a halt, Samus used her arm cannon to open the door in front of her and advanced into the Great Temple itself. Immediately glimpsing at the walls kept structurally secured by the stone pillars, bending metal rods, and bronze circular rings, the hunter's eyes then diverted their attention towards the ceiling where a cone shaped glass container without a point held within it a brimming source of unimaginable light energy that continuously regulated the energy of planet Aether. Below the glowing sphere was a metallic chamber that occasionally drew on these very energies, the technology indescribable by its very nature. And in front of that very chamber stands one of the highest members of the Luminoth order, the Sentinel of the Luminoths that assisted Samus once before on Aether, U-Mos.

The moth-like, wise young Sentinel was kneeling ten feet away from the chamber before detecting the hunter's presence in the room, his grasshopper muscular legs and nimble fur covered chest rising up a moment later as he turns to face Samus with his boney insect-like arms hanging limber beside his body as he peers down at the hunter with his red pupil-less eyes through his half squinted eyelids. The Luminoth's two thin delicate wings fold inward behind his body, and the feather-like antenna curl down at the top of his head as he speaks to the hunter in a reserved tone "Samus Aran…You have returned to us in our most dire of times."

The hunter stands a fair distance away from the refined U-Mos and gracefully bows before him out of respect, and says to him "I'm sorry we had to meet again like this, U-Mos."

The Luminoth kneels down once more. Before he stood twice as tall as the hunter, but even now he is a couple inches taller than her still. But despite his imposing height, one could not find a gentler soul on this planet than that of U-Mos. With a refined voice, the Sentinel of the Luminoth stated to the hunter as she stood back up "I can only assume you have noticed the maelstrom infesting our planet at this very moment. We do not know the exact circumstances behind the return of Dark Aether, but what is known is that they have begun their return in our Sanctuary Fortress and are looking to build a new hive to replace the one that was destroyed thanks to your previous endeavors…"

U-Mos holds his right hand out in front of his body and summons forth a holographic projection of a grotesque black creature with a strange glowing crimson eye and three thin pointed legs. Samus recognized this creature as the base form of the Ing, but wondered just why this imagery was being shown to her. "The plague has grown stronger this time around though…" U-Mos says, and in an instant the hunter watches with stoic shock as the Ing's body mutates through the hologram. The thin legs gain a series needle-like spikes that would surely make it easier for the beasts to tear into whatever prey they wished to kill, the large eye splits apart into a series of different sized orbs that cover the Ing's black face, the jagged antenna splits in two with decaying orange wing-like membranes extending from the broken halves that give the Ing the ability to fly, and finally the creature grows three more legs below the waist.

As U-Mos closed his hand to dispel the hologram Samus knew all too well that the Ing had been changed thanks to the difference in toxicity between Dark Samus' brand of Phazon and the type that impacted Aether once before. The hunter showed no fear in the face of the changed monsters though as she quickly yet calmly asked the Luminoth "How did you find out about this?"

"Before the fortress was completely overtaken, the security cameras managed to capture the Ings' revolting return and subsequent transformations, and the information was salvaged by one of my brothers and brought to me before I was once again forced to seal all survivors away to hibernate in case the worst were to come to pass. But while my brethren feared the possibility of a second cataclysm, I remained hopeful that you might return to save us once more…" U-Mos responds to the hunter's inquiry perfectly before asking himself "But I am curious to know the reason for which you came to Aether again, Samus Aran."

"Right now my Phazon born counterpart has been going around infecting planets I've visited before. I was alerted about Aether's infection and came here as quickly as I could to assist. If the Ing are only contained within the Sanctuary Fortress, then it won't be difficult for me and my partner to exterminate them." After Samus explains her reason for being on this planet, she proceeds to say to U-Mos "However, if Dark Aether is also on the verge of returning, then there is something I am going to need from you in order to survive there."

U-Mos nods his head, understanding far too well what the hunter desired from him as she calmly lifted his body up and said to her "I will be more than happy to return that to you for this endeavor. Allow me just a moment to open the chamber for you, Samus Aran…"

As Samus acquires a particular item from the Luminoth, back in the ship the resting Riku snores quietly, his mind emptied of any other thoughts as he heals up from the pain brought on by the spread of Phazon corruption throughout his body. Though the armor wasn't the most comfortable thing to relax in, the boy made due with it however he could. But as he rested inside of Samus' quiet ship a voice began to speak to him inside of his mind coldly, the voice unrecognizable to the boy as it whispered _"Surrender to Phazon…Then there will be no more pain in your life…"_

Riku's eyelids shift open, and a tense sweat begins to form along his face as his heart beats fast and he looks around past his visor to find the source of the voice. He doesn't realize that it was through his mind that this being spoke to him, and in confusion he exclaimed "Who is there?!"

"_You know who I am…In fact, you may know far too much about this galaxy I am a part of, especially when it comes to events that have yet to transpire…" _The second sentence spoken by this voice clued Riku in to both the place the being spoke from along with their identity. It was Dark Samus, and after pausing his glance to the upper right the teenage Overlord grit his teeth as the current creator of Phazon went on to say to him _"Do not be so surprised…With Phazon flowing through your body your mind is an open book to me…But not so open that I can simply take it for myself, unfortunately." _

Riku communicates through his mind, saying to Dark Samus in anger _"Get out of my head! You have no right to inhabit it!" _

"_Says the interloper from another world…" _Dark Samus calmly replies, and for a moment the teenage Overlord flinches in shock at the fact that the dark hunter pulled such knowledge from his mind.

"_Hmm…I do wonder why you resist corruption. I can see the guilt in your mind, I can tell how much it pains you to deal with it with each passing minute no matter how much of an act you put on for the bounty hunter, and yet I can't help but find curiosity in the fact that you still press on despite how corruption would free you of those burdens for good." _Dark Samus tries to fight Riku through psychological warfare, and effort that appears to be working as the teenage Overlord goes quiet and sinks his eyelids down.

But that melancholy smile goes away as Riku grins and thinks towards Dark Samus _"Yeah, well I would be a coward if I took the easy way out." _

"…_Pardon me?" _Dark Samus stoically replied in disbelief.

"_Yeah, while it may be true that I have a lot of guilt on my mind at this moment, if I let those burden be cast aside then I am nothing more than a fool and a coward. I can handle this problem just fine on my own, so I don't need you taking control of my body to solve this issue for me, thanks." _Riku's softly thought response surprises Dark Samus, and for a moment the teenage Overlord can feel the animosity growing within the dark hunter's mind.

"…_You and I are more alike than you realize, and every time you help the bounty hunter deal with the apparitions I have spread across the worlds she has visited you grow ever closer to me. No matter how strong your mind is, you will eventually succumb to me if you keep trying to play the brave little hero, child." _Dark Samus replies to the boy with a bit more viciousness in its voice.

"_As honored as I should be for you labeling me by that title, I am not worthy of being called a hero. But nonetheless, I am not going to let you get away with corrupting all of these innocent planets. Samus and I will eventually find you, and you know as well as I do that when you die this time Phazon will never return to this universe again."_ Riku humbly declines the dark hunter's title towards himself and in return gives her an ultimatum that he truthfully feels he will be able to fulfill.

Dark Samus can be felt grinning across the teenage Overlord's mind, and in response to his words the dark hunter says _"You are an interesting individual. I look forward to confronting you and the bounty hunter, but if you have any hope of even catching a glimpse of my world then you better keep your mind strong. I will not relent on breaking you…Every time you sleep from here on out, you will hear my voice speak to you." _

Dark Samus' voice slips away for now with those foreboding words, and after taking a moment to ponder this mental confrontation between the two of them Riku forces himself onto his feet despite not being in peak condition and says quietly to himself "Then until I have taken you down, I will not rest again."

The teenage Overlord then decides to go check up on Samus, heading immediately towards the lift and activating it to descend onto Aether, though he has to be a bit slow at first due to the weakness in his body. Once he is on the ground he looks on ahead and sees the hunter walking out from the towering branch, but to the teenage Overlord's surprise she had donned an entirely different suit. What she wears is sleek and streamlined with a white coating and is a lot less bulky than the Varia Suit, with the shoulders and arms being thinner as well. The knee pads are sharper and longer, and the tongues on her boots are replaced in favor of a more upwards curving shoe.

"Nice suit." Riku says in a complimentary voice that grabs the hunter's attention and causes her to turn her head towards him and says with a tone of surprise "You're up sooner than I expected."

The teenage Overlord leaps down from the ledge and walks in front of Samus, saying to her "I'm a little woozy but otherwise I feel I can handle Aether."

"I would honestly suggest staying in the ship and sit this one out. I reacquired this Light Suit from the Luminoth so I can handle the atmosphere of Dark Aether, but there's no way for you to get an upgrade for your suit to help you do the same." Samus quickly and stoically points out to the boy.

Riku shrugs his shoulders in response and replies nonchalantly "I shouldn't be affected by Dark Aether considering my affinity towards the Light element. Besides, if you are worried about my overexerting myself, the fact that we are dealing with the Ing instead of the usual Phazon apparitions means that I won't have to use Hyper Mode for this planet."

"…" Samus ponders the words that the teenage Overlord speaks, and after a few moments of glancing at him from the corner of her eyes the hunter reluctantly agrees with him and says "You may have a point there. Then lets get back onto the ship, it will be easier for us to reach the Sanctuary Fortress if we head into the skies."

As Samus began to walk past Riku and head towards the gunship, the teenage Overlord turned and asked her "But wait, wouldn't it be dangerous to go through the interdimensional storm?"

The hunter, now inches away from the lift as Riku leaps onto the rocky ledge behind her, replies to his inquiry with "It will only be dangerous if we divert from the necessary path. So long as I guide the ship in a straight line, we should make it through without any problems."

The teenage Overlord had faith in what Samus said, and after a nod of his head he waited for the lift to drop down so he could enter the gunship. After seating herself and getting the ship to recognize the Light Suit with a brief scan Samus, the hunter starts up the engines and takes off from the ground, flying straight towards the interdimensional storm and heading through to the Ing conquered Sanctuary Fortress that lies beyond, as the storm itself slowly creeps towards the Temple Grounds…

_Next Time: The Guardian of the Fortress_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Sentinel of the Fortress**

Samus' gunship charges through the powerful interdimensional storm bathing the skies of the planet between the Temple Grounds and the Sanctuary Fortress of Aether. Lightning of an unnatural nature strikes the armor plating of the ship, shaking it back and forth as the hunter grips the wheel tightly and tries to keep the vehicle steady as the bolts continue to buffet it. Riku stands in the back of the ship, gripping the top of a nearby device with his right hands as he body shakes up and down in tune with the ship being bombarded. As Samus gets closer to the Sanctuary Fortress, the boy asks her "How are the ships shields holding up?!"

He has to exclaim to get the hunter to here him, but after a rather gruesome sounding bolt strikes the ship Samus is forced to jeer the ship to the right to in order to avoid descending out of the storm after which she quickly points out as a siren goes off in the ship and a dark red hue appears around the heroes "They aren't holding up well. Thankfully, I think I can see the end of the storm ahead of us…The ship will perform a self-repair after we land, so don't worry about it."

Riku lets out a light sigh of relief at Samus addressing his concerns, and after he looks on ahead past said sigh he sees the ship piercing through the interdimensional storm as the Sanctuary Fortress itself comes into view. The technologically advanced stronghold of the Luminoth lives up to its description well, for the futuristic aesthetics of the exterior are superior to anything that Riku has ever seen not just in his travels in this galaxy, but from the memories given to him when he was birthed on his Earth. There are a series of metallic spikes protruding from the sides of the fortress, an obvious sign of the Ing's destructive influence during their last assault on Aether. There is also a large gap between the entrance of the fortress and the high cliffs below Samus' gunship. It appears as though the Luminoth had started to work on repairing the bridge before the Ing made their return, but much to the heroes' surprise Phazon had latched itself onto the structural bindings of the bridge and began to repair it all on its on.

Phazon twisted and grew outward, slowly recreating the bridge as accurately as possible. This reminded the teenage Overlord of the repairs he saw being made to Ridley and Mother Brain's rooms on Zebes, and only brought to his mind the question about just how Phazon can now repair things while also corroding and corrupting other objects. As he sinks into these thoughts, Samus says to him as she begins to lift up from her chair "We can't land the ship anywhere, there's not a spot large enough to fit its legs. We are going to have to jump out from the roof and land in front of the fortress itself."

Reaching up towards the ceiling, Samus taps a few buttons to open a hole in the ceiling, the ship's innards immediately being greeted by the chill of the violent cliff-side winds as Riku looks at the hunter and asks her "But how is your ship going to repair itself if it isn't on the ground?"

"I've already set the ship's autopilot to hover below the fortress. So long as it stays out of harm, the auto-repair function should activate without any issues." Samus says calmly after lowering her head away from her gaze towards the ceiling. The hunter then proceeds to latch her hands around the rim of the hole as she pulls herself up, as apparently this ship doesn't have a lift out through the ceiling like most of Samus' other ones do. Once the hunter is outside Riku quickly leaps out to join her right as she jumps off of the side of her ship as it flies by the entrance of the Sanctuary Fortress. Feeling a bit cautious, the teenage Overlord uses the thrusters on the back of his armor to lower himself onto the ground after getting off the ship.

The ship then departs on the path Samus commanded it to do, the hunter looking back at it for one brief second before gazing at the forward path where the door into the fortress lies. There is no sign of the Ing presence outside of the fortress, though the return of Dark Aether and U-Mos' words suggested that the Ing Hive was in the midst of being rebuilt and the Ing themselves weren't too focused on sending troops to guard the Sanctuary Fortress from the outside. Like always though, this didn't mean that either Samus or Riku should avoid being cautious.

"Follow my lead…" Samus stoically says to the boy as she begins to walk towards the fortress, calmly drawing her arm cannon up to shoot open the door in front of her as Riku nods his head and slowly walks behind her. Already impressed with the exterior layout of the Sanctuary Fortress, the teenage Overlord's mind is taken aback by how incredibly advanced the interior is. Each and every segment of the walls, ceiling and even the floor have some sort of electronic device that is far beyond anything that Riku could ever perceive the humanity of his Earth would be capable of making for even hundreds of years. Despite the fact that their creators have been chased out, there are miniature drones flying around the hallways of the fortress, working ever diligently on the machinery to make sure everything is in working out without ever once turning to acknowledge the presence of Samus and himself.

Despite knowing about this technology long before arriving in this world via the memories of his original, Riku still found himself incredibly overwhelmed by the beauty of the Sanctuary Fortress' technology, and he asks to the hunter as they travel through the winding corridors "…What did it feel like the first time you went through this fortress?"

Samus turned her head to the left and glanced at Riku as he looks at her with curious eyes, saying after a moment of thought out hesitation "I admit that it was a bit surprising to see this level of technology on this planet, but considering how similar the Luminoth's tech is to the Chozo's it didn't take me too long to get used to it. Why do you ask?"

The teenage Overlord could have easily predicted the hunter's response, but he was actually surprised when Samus asked him a question in turn. He had to take a moment to see if he actually heard the hunter right before replying to her with "Where I come from, the most advanced technology I can think of that we've developed is the ability to replace lost limps with perfect looking robotic replicas…And that was made about fifteen years ago in our time. Technology on our world has stagnated and I have no idea just why that is."

After explaining a few details about his world, Riku looks up and sees that Samus has faced on ahead once more, seemingly not paying much attention to his words beyond the first sentence. The teenage Overlord nervously chuckles, saying quietly to the hunter "Heh, I guess I gave you too long of an explanation, huh?" Before he receives an answer, Samus stops in place and extends her left arm out, the joints of the Light Suit cracking from movement. Riku looks past the hunter towards a circular room with a lone platform hovering above a pit crackling furiously with energy to spot the phantom of Samus standing in place in the rather bulky Dark Suit. The phantom had increased in solidity but still retained an ethereal hue around its body.

Samus stood in placed quietly and watched her phantom as it leaped onto the ledge beyond the platform and disappeared on ahead. The phantom's presence here was odd, for unlike the other instances of its existence there was no Phazon in sight, a fact that on further thought struck Samus as odd considering that the corrosive material was the only reason that the Ing came back into existence. After making sure that there was no danger to face on ahead, the hunter waved her left hand forward and the two heroes continued along the path the phantom took, making their way through a few more vibrant, technologically advanced hallways until they arrive at a vertical shaft beyond a two-way split.

Samus taps the side of her helmet to activate her map of the Sanctuary Fortress that had been kept downloaded inside of the Light Suit by the Luminoth. "Hmm…" The hunter murmurs to herself, the teenage Overlord finding himself wondering just what's on her mind and asking her in turn "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to recall where the Dark Portal is in here. I pray the Luminoth haven't gotten rid of them since I was last here, otherwise we have no real way of accessing Dark Aether." As Samus explains these crucial details to the boy, the hunter notices a single blip on the second floor of the fortress that indicates the presence of a working portal. The best part was that the portal itself wasn't that far off from their current location, meaning that infiltrating the Ing Hive in Dark Aether will happen in a matter of minutes.

But before Samus can guide Riku on where they should go, the boy offers up a rather legitimate question "What are we even doing here? Last I checked the leader of the Ing resided in the Dark Aether counterpart of the Temple Grounds. We should be back there finding a way into Dark Aether to stop the Ing's emperor."

The hunter gave a Riku a cold glare from over her right shoulder, the meaning behind it being as clear as day for the boy as he recalls his earlier promise not to mention things about Samus' adventures. After nervously apologizing for his mistake, the boy's glare sunk to the bottom right as the hunter went on to respond to his inquiry stoically "Based on what U-Mos told me, the Ing started their return here. That would suggest that if a new Emperor Ing was born it would be latched to the Hive until the influence of Dark Aether spreads to the Temple Grounds and recreates the Sky Temple. That also means that they haven't had enough time to capture all of the Light Energy on Aether and bring them to their energy controllers on Dark Aether. If we strike the Ing Hive now, we can take down the Emperor before they make things difficult for us."

"That actually makes a lot of sense. Good thing the Aurora Unit caught the reappearance of Dark Aether early." Riku says, to which Samus nods her head in agreement and replies with "Yes. Who knows how tough things would have been for us if we came here later. We can't afford to waste any time while other planets are suffering from Phazon's influence."

The two heroes thus waste not even a single other second and moved on towards the shaft, climbing it with a combination of skilled jumps and their Morph Ball forms to make it to the second floor, where Samus directs Riku to the right part of the room where a door takes them to a electronic generator-like device made into the shape of a convenient Morph Ball passable ring on the outside of the windowed console room. Timing their movements past the electric bars just right takes the heroes to the other side, but within her Morph Ball states Samus suggests sticking to this form and quickly uses her bombs to open the nearby door. Inside this next room is a arched hallway that would usually be filled with giant Luminoth-like robots called Ingsmashers, but because of Samus' last trip here all of them have been destroyed and the Luminoth saw no reason to bother recreating even one of them.

Rolling across the hallways and a couple Spider Ball tracks leads the heroes to a small destroyed passageway and an arched, foreign looking device that clashes with the rest of the Luminoth technology in this fortress. The steel arch had four crimson spherical marks scattered around its structure with none of them sharing the same size. Samus unfurls from the Morph Ball alongside Riku, the boy looking at the portal and asking the hunter "Did the Luminoth make this? It looks different from everything else in the fortress…"

"If I recall from my scans the Luminoth did in fact make these devices despite how dark they appear to be compared to the bright technology you've seen so far." After Samus answers Riku's question she uses her scan visor on the bottom left crimson sphere, activating the device to create an artificial swirling mass of purple and black energy in the center of the gate. The teenage Overlord feels a slight gravitational pull tugging on his armor as the portal is created, and as he looks into the gateway between worlds the hunter asks him "…This is your last chance Riku. If you feel you can't handle Dark Aether, then go to the entrance of the fortress and wait for me to return. Otherwise, we won't be returning until we've stopped the Ing once more."

"If you believed that I was going to back down you would have said something at the entrance of the fortress." Riku is quick to point out to Samus as he glances at her. With a smile hidden by the bottom of his helmet, the teenage Overlord goes on to say "Lets take care of the Ing quickly. You alone were enough to take on an entire swarm of Ing. The two of us against them is simply overkill, really."

Samus nodded at Riku's well-placed enthusiasm, and the heroes proceeded to enter through the portal in front of them. However, before their bodies completely made their way in the arch glitches and a couple sparks shoot out from the console that the hunter scanned. Though Samus is able to adapt to the innards of the portal with ease, Riku has to take a moment to familiarize himself with the pitch black atmosphere and otherworldly distortions around him, but only gets a few seconds to do so before his and Samus' bodies are broken down into microscopic atoms and carried through the dimensional divide between worlds and into the Ing Hive on Dark Aether itself.

However because of the slight glitch in the arch, the two heroes are quickly flung out of the portal far from the assigned destination, both of them forced to lean their bodies back to avoid slamming face first against the ground as their feet skid along the floor. When the heroes recover from their entrance into Dark Aether, Samus is quick to realize that they had ended up in an entirely different area than they should be in. To the right of where she stood lied a large sphere suspended in mid-air that was covered in Spider Ball tracks with several platforms floating around it. Scattered around the giant sphere are a series of bound together worm-like Ings that take up a spherical form.

"Didn't expect to get this far so quickly…Must have been a malfunction in the gateway, but if it gets us to where the Emperor Ing is then that's good news on our part." Samus says as she looks away from the giant sphere and towards a lone door to the left of her. The Light Suit was doing its job perfectly at the moment. Despite the antimatter flowing around in the atmosphere of Dark Aether, she felt as though she was walking around in her natural environment. She could breathe normally, her body didn't feel pain, and it wasn't hard to move around. But the Light Suit didn't help the uncomfortable feeling on her mind thanks to how completely different the Ing Hive looked in comparison to the Sanctuary Fortress.

Whereas the birthplace of technology for the Luminoth represented perfectly the concepts of creation and life, the Ing Hive was an antithesis, the black and red technology littered walls and flooring representing both destruction and death in its darkest element. The crimson glow of the sphere that spun in the background of Samus' vision added to the unholy atmosphere, and reminded the hunter just why she loathed the Ing the first time she came to Aether. But amidst her thoughts she almost forgot that the boy was standing beside her, and with a quick turn of her head she checked up on him to see how he was faring in Dark Aether.

He didn't appear to have much difficulty adjusting to the atmosphere, proving his earlier claim that he'd be able to survive due to his elemental powers to be true. Or perhaps there was more to it than that. "How are you holding up?" Samus asks the boy.

Riku turns to face Samus, his quick reaction showing the hunter that his movements haven't been impaired by the antimatter atmosphere. The boy says to Samus "Rather well. But we can't waste time worrying about my condition. The Ing will have noticed us and will try to attack us in swarms thanks to your previous encounter with them. Lets go to where the Energy Controller is, the Emperor Ing might be around there."

Samus stares at Riku, but the boy gets the wrong idea from that stare and quickly apologizes with "Heh, sorry if it sounded like I was ordering you around Samus." The hunter was mostly looking at the boy because she was in the midst of assuming that he was able to survive Dark Aether because of the Phazon in his body, but instead of mentioning this theory she said to him "Don't worry about it, just follow me to the Energy Controller location."

The hunter points towards the door to the left, and the two of them quickly head on through it and a single inconsequential room to arrive at the Hive Temple, an expansive area that lacks a ceiling and continues the deathly theme of the rest of the Ing Hive itself. On the ground is the battered wreckage of a quadruped robot with crippled insectoid legs and a badly destroyed three-eyed head scattered along incomplete crimson ground. Due to the lack of a ceiling, Riku is able to stare up in the grimly lit dark purple skies, where he sees clouds of a darker shade floating around and a series of pitch black flakes forming a miniature storm in the distance.

The door to the Energy Controller lied on the other side of the temple, and the two heroes leap down in front of the wreckage of the robot Quadraxis with Samus glancing at the thing with her scan visor and asking herself "How can this still be here? It should have been destroyed along with Dark Aether."

"Its not an apparition, that's for sure. I can't see through it at all. Still, maybe this robot was brought back by Dark Samus via her using Phazon to draw on the memories of Dark Aether in order to recreate it perfectly?" Riku tosses out this little theory of his, but Samus bluntly and stoically responds with "That's absurd, what reason would it have to bring back this robot then if its still broken?"

Riku, before he gets a chance to answer Samus' inquiry, looks up to the right of his body and flinches in shock when he sees the black storm from earlier begin to descend towards the robot in earnest, their sizes increasing as the boy quickly realizes what foe is assaulting them "I think I know what's going on here Samus…" He says in a slightly unnerved manner as he points towards the sky with his weapon and the hunter turns to see what he is looking at.

Samus recognizes the appearance of the new Ing from the hologram U-Mos showed her, but to see them in the form of a gruesome swarm made them more frightening in appearance. She wouldn't have to see them for long though, as they quickly divebombed the Quadraxis unit and splattered out into the form of a mesmeric black goop that takes on a stringy form and latches together the broken legs to the body. As the screeches of the Ing fill the temple area the strands of darkness thrust out from the roof of the body and attach them to the bottom of the head and drag it up back into place. The goop spreads across the broken glass on top of the head, sealing it up and turning the eyes yellow as the remainder of the Ing creates distorted mesh wings on the back of the mech.

Samus draws out her arm cannon from the side of her body and wastes no time in firing some Power Beam shots towards the head of the revived Quadraxis. The Ing possessed robot flies off of the ground and with a marionette motion uses its frontal left leg in a sweep to block the power beam shots with ease, launching in return a barrage of missiles from within the legs towards both the hunter and her partner. The two use their great agility in unison to dodge the missiles as the explode and release a dark and light impact hybrid with each attack.

Riku then takes out his Light Beam and aims at the strands of Ing around the joint of the leg connected to his body, firing a charged shot that released a large beam of light that pieces and melts right through the Ing and breaks off one of the legs from the main body. He then releases a rapid barrage of charged Light Beams at the other legs to take them down, culminating with one final shot at the eyes that break apart the Ing's connection to the head. Though it was rather anticlimactic, the Dark Quadraxis collapsed against the ground with a powerful thud as the Ing quickly scattered away towards a large citadel that has been created on the area where the Energy Controller is.

In the remains of the Quadraxis lied an item that represented a white echo with some black dots floating out of it with each one having a pale white glow around it. Samus, after glaring at how quickly Riku dealt with the Ing, walks over and picks up the Annihilator Beam, which gives her arm cannon a monochrome glow and allows her to shoot dark orbs with pearl white trails and hues around their form. After the hunter has acquired this beam the teenage Overlord walks over to her and says in an apologetic tone "I'm sorry for dealing with the robot so quickly, but I didn't think it was necessary to let the thing drag on for too long."

"Understandable, I won't hold it against you." Samus calmly replies, before the sound of machinery churning off to the side of her body reveals that a Spider Ball track is coming into existence below the doorway the two heroes need to take to reach the next area. With the appearance of the Citadel up ahead, it was obvious that the Emperor Ing was reviving up ahead. Without a second of hesitation, the heroes assume their Morph Ball modes and climb the rail, where the door at the top will take them to where the Citadel lies…

_Next Time: Reborn Emperor of the Ing_

**Author's Note:**

**I'd like to greatly apologize for how rushed and short this chapter is, especially when it comes to the fight against Dark Quadraxis. I realized just today that it had been a week since I had uploaded a chapter, and after freaking out a bit I basically decided to abridge my plans for the chapter. I know this is starting to get a bit ridiculous, but admittedly I am having a little bit of a hard time getting into this part of the story…The second story I foolishly decided to write at the same time as this one is just more interesting, so that's where my focus currently lies. I'm trying to get chapters out, but its just taking longer than I expected and my schedule has been broken. The next story will have things going back to normal, hopefully. Until then though, be thankful that this story is probably not gonna be longer than twenty chapters, more than likely. Thank you, and continue enjoying this story. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:**

**Ha! Three days between releases this time around! Finally getting back into the swing of things.**

**I guess while I'm in this note, I might as well mention that I'm surprised that this fic is getting more attention than the first story in Part 4. Of course, I guess people prefer an original story instead of a rewrite of a well-known game with a few differences here and there. Either way, thanks for the support, and keep on reviewing and everything else!**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Blackout**

After passing through the door beyond the Ing Hive's temple grounds, the two heroes come across a gyro unit attached to the center of a circular room up ahead that has a rounded slot that runs on energy. One of the type of energies that allows the gyro device to function comes from Samus' Morph Ball bombs, so after jumping into the slot with her Spring ball function and dropping one of her bombs while Riku gets out of his Morph Ball, the device activates and lets out a light "chink!" before the room begins to spin around at 180 degrees until it stops in front of another door that will lead into the room with the Ing Hive's Energy Controller.

After Samus is released from the gyro unit she unfurls from the Morph Ball and looks on ahead, noticing strands of black goop similar to what was attached to the Dark Quadraxis that is spread across the walls beside the door, but it appeared to be leaking into the room. Cautiously holding onto her arm cannon with her left hand the hunter begins to walk on ahead, using her newly reacquired Annihilator Beam in order to open the door and make a clear path to the next area. She asks the boy walking behind him "Can you combine your Light and Dark beams?"

Riku is surprised by this inquiry, and asks for better clarification "Why do you ask?"

The hunter turns her head slightly and says to him "My Annihilator Beam uses both Light and Dark energy, both of which are effective against the Emperor Ing, if you can achieve the same effect all on your own…"

The teenage Overlord shakes his head as Samus slowly ends her sentence off, saying to the hunter in turn "I can't combine the Light and Dark element, or any of my elemental abilities for that matter. Maybe I could combine them, but I don't want to really try in a life and death situation."

"Fair enough, I just thought I'd ask." Samus responds to the boy's understandable explanation, turning back towards the open door as the two of them enter a sanctum built around the area that the hunter was familiar with from her last visit here. It was similar to the sanctum that Samus entered before, with the distorted comb-like walls covered with a moss-like spread of Phazon. There are arches of glass hexagons being created in a dome-like form around the room, but it has not been fully completed and thus the antimatter sky is prominent in the eyes of the heroes as they briefly look up above where they stand on the black and grey patterned floor.

There was no Dark Aether Energy Controller, and no signs of the Emperor Ing itself. Both things bothered Samus as she walked on ahead, scanning the area with her visor in order to check the ground for anything that resembled his energy or footprints. There was nothing strange in sight save for a dimension rift back to Light Aether that lied in the back of the room that represented the origin of the tear that Dark Samus created to bring back Dark Aether. "This isn't right…" The hunter comments quietly enough that only she can hear it as she looks back and forth across the room one last time.

However, as Riku slowly approaches her from behind the sonar detectors in Samus' helmet pick up the rapid flutter of gigantic wings from above, and with an extension of her right hand the hunter looks up and says to the boy cautiously "Something's coming."

The teenage Overlord looks up, and the earlier concerns about the Emperor Ing's location will soon be shed from the heroes' minds as they see the Emperor descending from the skies with a small swarm of regular Ings flying around his gargantuan body. The Emperor had similarities to its smaller brethren, its legs bent at the same angle and its body having a familiar shape just to name a couple of them. However, the Emperor lacks a large eye, instead having a mouth filled with the Light of Aether trapped inside by a dark black web-like mouth that act as its teeth. The Emperor's legs also appear more armored, and to support his size the being has six legs instead of three. And like the rest of the Ing, the Emperor has become like a winged insectoid, sporting a giant pair of wings that look more organic than the liquid-y ones on its brethren.

Samus quickly leaps back as the Emperor and its swarm screeches, heralding its descent into the sanctum as it finally lands on the ground and trembles the ground, the gargantuan height of this abomination of nature towering far above both heroes combined as the hungering swarm sticks around their lord and repeatedly screeches out of familiarity towards the hunter that slew them all once before. "They definitely have longed to kill you Samus." Riku points out as she holds his arm cannon out beside his body and stares down the Ing swarm with his body trembling only slightly at their presence.

"…I imagine we will have to divide our attention to take care of the other Ing. If it comes down to you facing the Emperor alongside me, aim for the light of Aether with the opposite beam than the color of the light." Samus then dashes to the right to grab the Emperor's attention, relegating Riku to the role of facing down the Ings surrounding him much to the boy's surprise. The Emperor leaped into the air and turned to face the hunter, and the Ing focus their attention on the teenage Overlord as in the background Riku notices Samus quickly fire two Annihilator Beam shots at the Emperor that bounce off of his closed mouth.

"Geez, thanks for giving me the fun part…" Riku says with a sarcastic tone of voice as he slants his posture and points his arm cannon downward before the Ing spread out in a more random pattern across the air in front of him. Though he is in control of the Light Element, the odds are that the Ing would be able to cause him trouble if more than one of them tried to inhabit his body, as if Phazon wasn't enough of a problem for him to deal with. But there was one advantage that Riku had over the Ing, and as he looked at the flying otherworldly insects a smirk crosses his face as she switches the functionality of his beams from Fire to Light. The Ing instantly freak out upon detecting such pure energy coming from within this mysterious opponent's weapon.

"Come get some, Ing!" Riku exclaims with bravado as he chooses to stop holding back for the moment and utilizes all of the strength and speed he can while wearing this armor. His first move with this new attitude is to zip forward behind the frontline of the Ing swarm and turns around, swinging his arm cannon in front of his body and unleashing a rapid barrage of Light beams that melt right through a total of seven Ings like they are nothing more than black butter. The Ings disintegrate apart brightly, their burning forms filling with holes before they leave the air and frighten the remainder of the swarm.

The swarm diverges into two halves, one side going for a straight charge against the boy while the other backs off to wait for a prime chance to strike should their brethren fail. The Ing move close together, offering little to no escapes for the boy should they manage to catch him in the grasp of their spiked legs. However, Riku leaps into the air and spins around so his head is pointing straight at the Ing as the close proximity of their wings makes them quickly crash against the ground. "What a fatal flaw in your evolutions…" The boy snarks coldly as he flips himself upright and points his arm cannon at the fallen Ing, charging light energy inside to incinerate them all in one shot as he uses his armor's thrusters to slow his descent from the air and keep a steady aim on the otherworldly insects.

However, the second swarm is able to take perfect advantage of this charge in order to rush them with their numbers, latching around the boy's armor so quickly that his heart briefly jolts in shock and his charge is disrupted. The Ing cover the boy's visor with the front of their bodies, latching onto the binding of his armor with their sharp tipped legs as Riku begins to feel them tugging apart at the metal plates and wires that compose the outer layer of his armor. All it would take is one sufficiently sized crack for them to compromise his body, and the panic brought on by the multiple merry screeches of the hungering Ing did little to help Riku concentrate on a way to deal with this swarm.

Closing his eyelids as he hears a tear forming in the back of his armor, Riku concentrates on the arm cannon and his armor simultaneously. He was afraid of taking risks right now when his life was on the line, as evidenced by the cold sweat forming around his nervous, twitching face, but he had to also have enough confidence in himself that this idea of his would work out in his favor. _"Divert energy into armor…" _Focusing on the Morph Ball functionality as the light from his arm cannon dissipates, Riku curls into the rocky sphere, and while the Ing's area of harvest becomes a lot smaller they are entirely unaware of what the boy has done.

Thanks to draining some of the light energy from his arm cannon into his armor, Riku is able to carry this very energy with him when he turns into a Morph Ball. But there is too much energy being stored inside of this compressed form, a prospect that proves to be exactly what the teenage Overlord desired as he quickly unfurls from his Morph Ball state after dropping to the ground, releasing all of the light energy in a widespread explosion of purity that burns across the sanctum in a radius large enough to take out both halves of the swarm in an instant, their screeches filling the sanctum all at once as their disintegrating bodies fade from view and give the standing Riku a blurred view on ahead.

His visions is a little shaky and his body is rather weakened thanks to suppressing all of that light energy inside of the Morph Ball state, even if it was only for such a brief period of time. _"Huff…Huff…At least I can recover from this faster then I would after using Hyper Mode or absorbing Phazon into my body." _Riku thinks to himself as he pays attention to the continuing fight between Samus and the airborne Emperor Ing. After taking in a deep breath, the boy says to himself "Got to get back into the fight now…" And with a swing of his right arm the boy draws forth his arm cannon and activates the Light Beam functionality seeing as the core of the Emperor Ing is currently dark purple.

Samus fires an Annhiliator Beam shot into the core, but the Emperor retaliates by opening multiple dimensional rifts around his body that fire lasers of antimatter energy straight down at the hunter, bombarding the ground to the point that she is forced into her Morph Ball form so she can be allowed even an inkling of a shot at maneuvering around them all. The hunter considers rolling underneath the Emperor, but as a precaution she drops a Power Bomb to damage the giant otherworldly insect as it tries to crash down on top of her. The burning heat of the bomb scathes the underside of the creature, but only causes it to flinch briefly as it turns around to face the standing hunter and quickly lunges forward with its massive black girth in order to smash Samus against the wall before she has a chance to counteract.

The hunter lets out a brief grunt of pain as her body rebounds off of the nearby wall and falls onto the ground, the Light Suit thankfully cushioning most of the damage from the dark-based Emperor Ing's attack yet still forcing Samus onto one of her knees for a second as she tilts her head up and scans the core of the otherworldly monarch to see how much damage she has done to it so far. The Emperor was weakened, but not to the extent that the tension in the hunter's demeanor would be weakened anytime soon. And worst of all was that she had already used up all of her Annihilator Beam ammo.

Riku notices the lack of shots coming from Samus' arm cannon and quickly blurts out to her as the Emperor Ing roars "Hey Samus! Do you need more ammo for the Annihilator Beam?!"

The hunter faces the boy, who quickly dashes to the left and uses a charged Light Beam shots from his own weapon to strike the core of the Emperor Ing and temporarily force him back with the impact from the glowing sphere and allowing enough distance and time for Samus to respond to the boy's prior inquiry.

Looking down at her arm cannon, Samus quietly responds with "Since I only have the Annihilator Beam I have fifty shots worth of ammo on me, but there's nothing I can destroy to refill my ammunition."

Riku, blinking twice as he thinks about the situation a bit, quickly turns and points his arm cannon at the chest plate of Samus' armor, causing the hunter to stoically react with a questioning "…Don't tell me that the Ing managed to circumvent your armor and took over your body."

To prove that the hunter's assumption was mistaken, the teenage Overlord shook his head twice and proceeded to fire two shots from his arm cannon, one made of light and another of darkness. Instead of burning through the metal plating of the Light Suit with malicious intent, the energy is absorbed into Samus' suit, causing the hunter to immediately see that her ammunition has been refilled from the right side of her visor. "Now come on Samus, lets take the Emperor Ing down quickly and re-focus our efforts on Dark Samus." Riku says to the hunter as he turns to face the recovering Emperor with his arm cannon swung out to the side of his body and his body stepping to the right to give Samus a clear shot at the giant insect.

The hunter stands up and nods her head, approving of the boy's steadfast focus on the battle without noticing at all the tremble of his right arm due to him draining more of his energy to keep Samus in the fight. Aiming her arm cannon at the Emperor Ing, Samus quickly charges up the Annihilator Beam energy within, expanding the radius of the cannon and causing the black spots to circle around the cannon itself before it collects in front of the lip and is fired out in a compressed shot that blows through the air in an instant and shatters upon making contact with the Emperor Ing's mouth, the air breaking apart as though a sonic boom had struck it.

"_Huh, I guess the Annihilator Beam came with the Sonic Boom beam combo…" _Riku thinks to himself as he glances back at Samus. The Emperor Ing, meanwhile, staggers from the damage down to his core, which flickers back and forth between light and darkness rapidly before the giant insect recovers and quickly flies into the air, the single flap of its wings pushing the heroes back as the Emperor quickly draws out many tears in the dimensional plain to send forth a harsh bombardment of lasers that are meant to trap the heroes between the scarring light as all of a sudden the Emperor curls up its legs and wings, a dark orange spiny aura coming into existence around its body as Samus flinches in shock upon recognizing what the monster was about to do.

"Get out of the way now!" The hunter proclaims in surprising panic as she quickly turns into her Morph Ball state and rolls forward, the teenage Overlord joining her after flinching briefly from the loudness in her voice. The two heroes manage to roll out of the way just in time as the Emperor Ing rapidly descends, spinning around like a gigantic buzz saw before it collides with the ground and begins grinding it apart at an obscene rate as the walls of diagonal lasers fades away beside its body, giving the Emperor enough room to spin itself around and point at the heroes, rolling along with the dark orange aura still surrounding its body.

Riku and Samus split off from the center of the Emperor's charge, getting out of their Morph Balls states and skidding sideways along the ground as the Ing lord tears a massive scar across its own sanctum before it reaches the opposite end of the room and quickly unfurls itself, slamming its pointed legs against the ground and letting out a pained wail before it turns around to face the heroes once more. The Emperor then lunges forward with its front legs, slamming them down with enough force to create a gargantuan shockwave that the heroes leap back to avoid in unison, their arm cannons drawn in front of their body as Samus charges up the Annihilator Beam and Riku charges the Dark Beam.

The Emperor's mouth was perfectly agape as it landed, the roar of its damaged mind echoing across its sanctum as one of its legs stood in the scar of its own design, unaware that once again his demise was set to occur just very little time after him and his kind were brought back to life. Samus launches a Sonic Boom first, which hits the dark core of the Emperor Ing and creates a shattered design across the sky and forces the core to become one of Light. Riku follows up swiftly as the Emperor Ing staggers backwards like a skittering bug, the crystallized blast of darkness emerging from his double-barrel cannon striking the core swiftly and forcibly and the crystal itself expanding to consume the core and damage both it and the inside of the Emperor's webbed maw.

The combined attacks proved to be too much for the dark lord of the Ing, and as the effects of the teenage Overlord's attack fade away the Emperor lets out a series of deathly screeches as it staggers back first against the nearby wall and collapses onto its underside with legs spread out around his body. Without so much as a spectacle or a final act of defiance, the Emperor Ing dies and explodes into a cloud of purple particles, the Light of Aether from Sanctuary Fortress and sleek circle with a lightning bolt going through it being all that remains from the Emperor.

"So…Dark Samus even gave one of my power-ups to the Ing." Samus comments as she lowers her arm cannon and begins to walk towards the aptly named Screw Attack that lies in front of the glowing Light of Aether. Collecting the power-up with a swing of her left hand, the hunter feels a natural glow surrounding her body as the armor calmly says "Screw Attack reacquired." With the Emperor's prior demonstration of the ability in a manner different to how the hunter usually uses it, Samus didn't feel the need to test it out right now.

Riku says to the hunter after she re-obtained that power "I knew that aura looked familiar. Still, you should consider yourself lucky that only one of the Ing had a power-up of yours instead of a bunch of them."

Samus nodded her head in agreement without turning to face the boy, and with a raise of her arms the hunter began to absorb the Light of Aether into her suit so she can carry it back to the Energy Controller in Sanctuary Fortress that should hopefully lie beyond the portal off to the left of her body. As Samus begins to turn towards that dimensional rift, the whole of Dark Aether begins to tremble rapidly, the realm already beginning its assured descent into destruction once more thanks to the combined death of the Emperor Ing and the reclaiming of the Light of Aether. The barely completed roof of the sanctum was already crumbling apart, bits and pieces of the ground cracking at the seams as Samus quickly faces Riku and says to him "Use your Light Beam to open the rift up ahead so we can escape."

Following the order without a hesitating nod of his head, the boy points his arm cannon at the rift and both him and hunter begin to dash at it, a single Light Beam shot being fired that spreads apart the dimensional rift with a translucent glow that the two heroes jump straight into as Dark Aether is left to die behind them. A jump through a tunnel similar to the one that took them to this desolate realm brings them back to the Sanctuary Fortress, specifically behind a device similar to the one found in the Great Temple that Samus went to visit U-Mos at. As they land, Riku looks back and sees a single Ing leg poking through in a desperate attempt to escape, but the portal quickly vanishes out of existence and slices the leg right off and the purity of the Light Realm causes the leg to disintegrate almost instantly.

Despite the Ing's intentions, Riku didn't feel even the slightest bit guilty about pitying the creatures of darkness, and his expression sinks into a somber mood for just a moment while in the foreground Samus walks to the front of the Energy Controller and does an indescribable procedure to put the Light of Aether back in. The boy, after hearing a thrust of energy from the left side of his head, turns as a beam of Light shunts into the sky towards the Great Temple in the center of Aether, signifying the end of the two heroes' mission here today.

"…So, what do we do now?" Riku quietly asks, and as Samus walks around the Energy Controller her left hand can be seen dutifully tapping buttons on the side of her arm cannon. In a matter of seconds after the hunter raises her head and looks at the boy her gunship rises behind them and opens a hole in its ceiling to allow them both entry back inside.

"I need to return the Light Suit to U-Mos and get my Varia Suit back. I also need to transfer the Screw Attack over to that suit since I feel I may need it later on." Samus neglects to mention the Annihilator Beam in her stoic explanation, which puzzles Riku as the two of them begin to walk towards the gunship.

"Why not transfer the Annihilator Beam over as well?" Was the inquiry the teenage Overlord gave as he leapt into the gunship behind the hunter.

"The ammunition system for the Annihilator Beam isn't very effective in the midst of battle, and I can only use it to its maximum potential when I have the Light and Dark beam connected to my suit as well. Besides, only the Ing are truly weak to the weapon, so now that we took them down its useless for our mission." Samus calmly explains to the boy as she seats herself in front of the controls for her ship and prepares to take off to the Temple Grounds.

Riku accepts the hunter's explanation and says no more, and he relegates himself to the back of the ship while he looks down at his right hand and clenches it tightly while a smile crosses his face. Despite the bit of exertion he had to perform earlier against the Ing, he felt perfectly re-energized. During this brief period of time he had spent on Aether, he had even forgotten all about the Phazon inside of his body, a relief that he most assuredly welcomes as he lifts his head up and looks at the back of Samus' armor, thinking to himself _"Samus is still alive too…Maybe I really can make up for letting Li-…"_

The teenage Overlord goes quiet almost instantly and a somber expression sinks across his face once more. He still couldn't bring himself to remember or speak that person's name, but he didn't feel as incapacitated with guilt and trauma as he did not too long ago. It was a start, but it would be a long time coming before Riku could truly overcome his problems.

The ship takes off and heads to the Temple Grounds. The interdimensional storm has disappeared, but most of the grounds have been ravaged, especially the plants that the Luminoth likely worked hard to replant across the planet's surface. Once the ship has landed beside one of the entrances to the temple, Samus gets out by herself and heads back inside to go reclaim her Varia Suit while Riku waits behind inside. The hunter take only twenty minutes to return, the familiar armor of red, orange and yellow being adorned once more around her body as she quickly heads to her seat and sits down ready to take off from Aether.

Riku, with a curious grin on his face, asks Samus "So how are the Luminoth doing now?"

The hunter, as the engines of her gunship begin to roar, responds with "U-Mos said that they will manage to recover in due time. He wasn't too concerned about the damage, and he thanked me graciously for my help…"

Samus pauses for a moment, but turns her head towards the boy and says to him "When I mentioned your assistance, he wished for me to tell you 'Thanks' as well."

The teenage Overlord was surprised that the hunter went out of her way to mention his help in the whole ordeal when she really didn't have to, but after thinking about the matter a bit more the boy smiles and thinks to himself _"Maybe Samus is starting to accept my help…Maybe she actually sees me as a partner instead of a tagalong…" _

As Riku thought about this possibility merrily, the ship rose past the atmosphere of Aether and turned around, allowing the boy to see that the world's light has been perfectly restored without a single sign of Dark Aether to be found around the glowing blue ring surrounding the planet. But he isn't able to focus on the planet for long as the hologram of the Aurora Unit appears along the visor of the ship.

"_Congratulations Samus, Aether has once again been freed of control from the Ing. But once again, a link to the location of the one called Dark Samus has not been found. However, we have developed a theory that may help us determine just where the dark hunter is at. The last three planets touched by Phazon are familiar territory for her. Bryyo, Elysia, and the Pirate Homeworld have all become infected once more, and it is with our suggestion that you head to Bryyo first to try and route the Phazon on the planet. Our general theory here is that the Phazon that has been carried off world heads back to Dark Samus' herself, but we need to closely examine the trail a few times before we can draw a definitive conclusion. As such, we will not be getting in contact with you until you have dealt with all three remaining planets. Good luck, Samus."_

The Aurora Unit signs off after a lengthy explanation, and Samus quickly sets up the coordinates to Bryyo without saying a single word towards the boy. Riku in turn stays silent and folds his arms in front of his chest, bracing himself for hyperspace travel once more as the ship turns away from Aether and quickly makes a leap through a rift in space to the planet Bryyo…

_Next Time: The Chill of Death_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: A Cold Remembrance**

Samus' gunship leaps out of the hyper space tunnel and arrives in yet unfamiliar sector of space from the teenage Overlord's point of view. The most immediate thing the boy notices about the planet lying outside the ship's visor is that it has similar aesthetic to Zebes, with the surface having an orange coating and there barely being any greenery visible from the skies. This piqued the boy's interest, and as Samus set the ship towards the descent into Bryyo he asked her "Say, did the Chozo ever have anything to do with Bryyo's eco-structure?"

"From what I read from the lore of the planet during my last visit here, the Chozo did come to this world at one point in time, but they didn't do anything besides try to convince the planet's residents to seek a perfect balance amongst their different sectors." After Samus' brief explanation, the gunship begins to pierce the glowing atmosphere of the planet, and due to a lack of clouds in the sky Riku sees a large patch of blue Phazon spreading across the world from the hollowed out shell of a giant Leviathan seed. The Phazon covered areas consisting of fire, rock, jungle and ice, and it was obvious that this batch of the corrosive material had been around the longest out of all the planets the two heroes had traveled across so far.

"…So, what happened to the people of Bryyo?" Riku decides to ask after momentarily staring in disgust at the Phazon cache on the planet.

"They all fell to ruin after a schism tore their people in two, long before they could even see Phazon taint their planet." Samus coldly recalls the details in her log books on Bryyo's past, understandably sharing little sympathy for the self-destructive actions of its people and their lack of foresight to heed the warnings of the Chozo.

Riku merely responds with a quiet "Oh, I see…" and drops the subject with a tilt of his head off to the side, his sagging eyelids showing that unlike the hunter he felt a bit of pity towards the people of Bryyo despite never seeing a single one of them.

"Anyways, considering the main part of the planet is split off into four sectors, I'm going to have to run a quick scan with the Phazon blood sample you gave me before to see where any apparitions are at. This will take a few minutes considering the surface area I have to cover, so just bear with me for a moment." Samus immediately begins to set the gunship onto autopilot and lets it hover hundreds of feet above the planet's surface while she works in conjunction with the scanner to find any apparition energy signatures.

Riku leans back in the mean time, saying to the hunter "If it will help, tell the computer not to scan the Leviathan seed. The Aurora Unit noted that there was likely nothing to find in any of them."

Samus nods her head in agreement and continued her work silently, the teenage Overlord sitting back with only a single reminding thought on his mind _"Oh yeah, might be a good idea to contact Adam about what's been happening. I haven't communicated with him since Tallon IV…" _

Thus Riku occasionally reminded himself of what he should take care of while Samus worked diligently on scanning the planet. The teenage Overlord felt as though he was forgetting a detail about the world that was crucial for what they were about to do, this constant forgetfulness of his dating back to the beginning of his adventure much to his chagrin, and more than once it prevented him from dealing with problems that he could have avoided or stopped.

But as she thinks about all of this, the ship's engines begin to quiet down as the scanners go off and Samus appears to flinch momentarily much to Riku's surprise. The boy asks "What's up Samus? Did you find something interesting?"

The hunter goes quiet, her eyebrows arching downward as she stays stoic and says nothing to boy in response to his inquiry. Updrafts of hot air can be see coming from the outside of the ship, signifying the descent into the fire sector of Bryyo. From what little Riku can see in front of the visor, the gunship was going into a circular landing port that had a platform raised over a vat of molten magma, the rough metal machinery inside the room appearing to run off of a gelatinous fuel that could likely be found in mass quantities on this sector of the planet if the machines were still operational long after its people had disappeared.

The ship's cooling system comes online to protect itself from any possible overheating, also signifying that Samus planned to keep the gunship at bay until its time to depart. The circuitry of the ship's legs let out a light hiss to release pressure, and after everything has been parked in place Samus gets out of her seat and turns around to begin heading for the exit lift without saying anything to Riku regarding his earlier question. The boy follows the hunter out of the ship, his suit adjusting to the intense heat on this sector of Bryyo in an instant. Samus begins to walk down the ramp towards the blue-laser locked door when the teenage Overlord says to her "Hey Samus, I need to get in touch with my superior officer real quick. I know you want to move on ahead, but-"

"Go on ahead Riku." Samus says as she turns her head over her shoulder to look at the boy, going on to say "I understand the importance of letting others know of your progress. I did used to be part of the Galactic Federation Police Force after all."

Riku is surprised by how Samus' sentence lacked her general tone of coldness, and after a couple blinks of his eyelids the boy nodded his head in thanks and watched as the hunter only went a little bit farther and began to examine the environment to see how badly Phazon has affected the area if it has at all. The boy then taps the side of his helmet to try and get a stable connection with Adam Malkovich wherever he may be. Thanks to the advanced technology of the Galactic Federation, the boy gets a response rather swiftly in the form of _"Riku? I'm surprised to hear you call again. What's going on?" _His tone is welcoming, even if he was a bit shocked at first.

"I'm just calling you to give you an update on the situation. Samus and I successfully took care of Tallon IV and Aether's Phazon problems, and now we are currently on Bryyo." Riku gives the details in a dutiful manner, showing respect towards his superior officer in the process.

"_Hmm…I just heard about the Tallon IV rescue, but didn't receive any word on Aether yet. You guys are taking care of things quickly from the sounds of-…Wait a second, what planet did you say you are on now?" _Adam's tone of voice shifts from joyous to concerned after a brief pause in his sentence, something that puzzles the young Riku greatly.

"What are you talking about?" Riku asks to get some answers, to which Adam replies firmly with _"There's no time to waste Riku, I need the name now."_

Riku blinks twice and awkwardly answers with "B-Bryyo. Seriously, what's going on here Adam?"

"_I did some research on the apparitions after you mentioned them to me, and quickly observed that you fought enemies from Samus' past. Tell me, did you encounter these apparitions in the rooms that Samus originally encountered the enemies at?" _Adam's question was meant to further his own personal theory, but Riku realized that he would have to deny his own knowledge on the matter to provide an answer.

"Samus never mentioned anything directly, but I can only imagine that we fought them in their original rooms…Why do you ask?" Riku responds after a moment of hesitation. Adam sighs after the response is given.

"_Ridley in Norfair, Kraid in his lair, Mother Brain in Tourian…And if I could guess, the Omega Pirate in Phazon Mines and the Emperor Ing on Dark Aether. All of them are enemies that Samus has fought before, and all of them were brought back in the form of Phazon empowered apparitions. Give me a second to pull up a file, I need to go over something with you if you are on Bryyo…" _Adam goes silent for a bit as he types something on his nearby keyboard, with Riku waiting patiently as he only turns his head to check up on Samus, who is tapping something on her arm cannon as she looks up towards the sky.

"_Ok, here we go. Galactic Federation Log #8272007, Bryyo Chronicle. On the fourth week of the Phazon Insurrection, the hunter Samus Aran went to the planet Bryyo and destroyed the Leviathan seed. In the process, she was forced to terminate her corrupted ally…" _"Rundas." Riku replies quietly to finish Adam's log recollection, realizing the point that Commander was making with everything he has said up until this point while failing to catch the fact that he shouldn't actually know the hunter's name. He gasps at the realization of what he had done.

However, Adam doesn't feel particular disturbed by the fact that Rundas' name was mentioned, and he goes on to say _"The point I'm trying to get at is that the apparitions are based only on figures that Samus has fought on these planets, which means if you know what planets you are going to from here on out, you'll be able to determine which apparitions you'll be encountering with a little cooperation on Samus' part." _

"Considering we only have two more known planets to deal with, this advice is rather lately-timed. But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the attempt to help anyways, Adam. Also, I do think that Samus has already figured this information out, considering her reaction after performing a scan of Bryyo." Riku says slowly and quietly to avoid catching the attention of the hunter herself.

"_I figured as much." _Adam replies. _"Listen to me when I say this Riku. This might be the hardest apparition for Samus to deal with beyond the Mother Brain and Ridley. Though she is a loner, she still felt an incredible amount of pity towards the three hunters that were corrupted by Dark Samus' brand of Phazon when she had to kill them in battle. Rundas' demise hit her the hardest, so you might need to be prepared to compensate for Samus if she becomes emotionally compromised for even a second." _

The Commander shows a bit of doubt towards the hunter, to which Riku arches his eyebrows downward and disbelief and firmly states to Adam "I don't think Samus is going to run into any problems, Adam. She's stayed emotionally strong so far despite having to re-face some of her most nightmarish foes…I think she can handle fighting an old ally again, especially since it won't be the real deal."

"…_No, you're right. For a moment, I forgot the type of woman Samus is these days and recalled how emotional she was under my watch. Sometimes its hard to let go of the past, whether the memories are good or bad. Do you understand what I'm getting at there, Riku?" _Adam's inquiry and words combined cause Riku to flinch and think back to the pain brought on from the last video game world he traveled through, and in turn he responds with "Yeah, more than you possibly know. Either way, I should probably sign off, this conversation is starting to get a little personal."

"_Right, can't let personal feelings get in the way of a mission. Heh, in a way, that sounds like something Samus would say these days. Maybe she is influencing you more than you know, Riku. Either way, I'm going to sign off for now. Contact me once its time for you to go after Dark Samus." _Adam signs out, and Riku is left to think about his comment regarding his Samus-like remark just a moment ago.

"…_Is Samus really influencing my actions? Hmm…Maybe she is and I haven't been paying enough attention to what I've been doing lately." _Riku turns around and goes over to meet up with Samus, saying to her after dropping his line of thought for now "Alright, I'm ready to go. Lead the way Samus."

The hunter nods her head, remaining silent as she turns around and uses her arm cannon to open the door behind her body. The two heroes make their way into a hallway that is infected with Phazon. The lava is blue, the gelatinous material in the machinery is beginning to change colors as well, and once again the areas are devoid of wildlife. At the very end of the hall is a bird-like statue different from the Chozos with a vacuum of air going inward, in contrary to the push of air that Samus encountered from this statue the first time she came to this planet. "…How oddly convenient." The hunter quietly mumbles after her and Riku cross the hall.

"What's up Samus?" Riku says with a smile on his face, for he was happy to hear Samus speak after the last few minutes of utter silence.

"This transfer tube can take us only a room away from our target area if we go into our Morph Ball forms. But usually this tube blows air instead of sucking things in." Samus examines the tube with her visor while Riku merely shrugs behind her.

"Maybe it has something to do with the Phazon. Either way, I'm not one to mock convenience. Lets get a move on." Samus pauses in hesitation, but eventually nods her head and goes into Morph Ball mode alongside Riku so they can leap into the tube. Both their bodies are thrust along an incredibly long tube across multiple curves and straight-aways, their speeds reaching maximum velocity in a matter of seconds yet quickly halting as they are thrown out from the opposite tube into yet another hallway. After recovering from their travels and unfurling from their Morph Ball forms the two heroes find themselves in a cavern-like hallway drowned in the color blue thanks to a massive influx of Phazon that has overtaken the environment.

This area appears to be the origin point of most of the gelatinous material that powers the machinery, as the ceiling is dripping streams of it into a vat of Phazon infected gel. The spikes have been littered with sharp Phazon crystals, and the floor is slowly breaking apart into a pool of pure Phazon. Steady steps would have to be taken throughout the rest of the cavern as the two heroes headed to the right out of the area. After an ascension through a diagonal spiral tunnel the heroes come across another door and open it with a power beam shot from Samus.

Entering the next room, the heroes find themselves in a large temple area with a lake of light-blue gel hidden under circular grates that in turn are underneath square tiles. It appeas impossible to scale out of the temple thanks to the sheer cliff faces that have been contaminated with rooted Phazon vines and spores. But thankfully, there was a clear view of the sunset sky above, though thanks to the alien atmosphere the sky had a swampy orange tint to it. Samus slowly began to walk on ahead, hesitation being the clearest emotion she was experiencing now that she had entered this room.

Riku followed behind the hunter and drew his arm cannon into existence, preparing for battle against the apparition of Rundas that was certain now to appear in this location. As the heroes neared the center of the room, Samus caught a glimpse of her phantom running past her body. The phantom was more solidified than the last time it appeared, but now it wore the PED Suit on its body. After arriving at the center of the room, the phantom is ambushed by other phantoms representing Space Pirates. The phantom hunter fights them off quickly, but an envoy of dozens suddenly appears to surround the phantom.

Samus recalls what happens next, and slowly begins to walk to where her phantom is at with a look of near-stoic disbelief behind her visor as all of a sudden another apparition flies down from the sky riding a road of ice that is constantly being created and melted from his right hand. After landing in the center of the room, the apparition uses its awe-inspiring and destructive powers of ice to freeze the entire temple grounds, with real sharp stalagmites of ice thrusting out from the Phazon gel pools to impale the Space Pirate apparitions and create a large field of icy spikes around a round elevated platform surrounded by different sized crystal clear ice fangs.

Standing atop the platform is the apparition of an alien entity who was roughly one foot taller than Samus herself, with an elongated head, four icicle-like fingers on each hand, armored legs with pointed kneecaps leading down to feet with a triangular shaped at the front instead of anything resembling toes. The alien was covered in sleek Galactic Federation armor that resembled the PED Suit the phantom of Samus and Riku both had on, only this was specifically designed to fit his unique physique. Covered in front on the upper part of his legs and hands while the rest of his body was as black as the coldest ice, the apparition stared at the real Samus as she stepped into the spot where he phantom currently resides, his body hunched slightly like a controlled marionette as the hunter raises her arm cannon and stares into the visor of the once proud Phrygisian Rundas, gripping the barrel of her weapon with her left hand as she hears the raspy echo of the icy hunter's voice say to her _"Sa…Samus…Sa…Samus…" _

Samus pauses in shock at the apparition calling out her name, her arm cannon lowering briefly in hesitation as the ethereal form of Rundas fizzles back and forth in a wavy pattern. The apparition quickly puts on an armor of ice that wraps around all but his ghastly neck, the ice proving to be as real as the rest despite solidifying around an ethereal figure. The hunter knew that it was not the right time to become surprised by Rundas' appearance, and with hesitation shattered Samus raised her arm cannon towards the icy hunter once more and prepared for battle.

Rundas leaped from his platform and began to create ice underneath his feet in a steady stream to pass over the hunter, curving around a couple of his ice pillars to the right of the hunter until he feels ready to leap down, but not before taking his right arm and firing a few shots of crystallized ice Samus' way. The hunter somersaults to the left, getting on her knees and firing a few shots precisely aimed at the hole around Rundas' neck, forgetting for a moment that she cannot harm the apparition until Riku solidifies it with his Hyper Mode.

Thankfully, the teenage Overlord has ran around the circumference of the arena while Samus first approached the apparition, positioning himself perfectly behind Rundas and using the Grapple Beam in his left hand to try and pull the armor right off. However, Rundas'

apparition sensed the high concentration of Phazon coming from the boy, and with his desire to have a one-on-one duel with Samus being prominent even though he was still a ghost Rundas quickly summoned forth a large curved wall of ice behind his body with a thought to keep the Grapple Beam from reaching him. The tip of the beam connects with the wall and immediately retracts, and Riku flinches in shock and thinks to himself _"Well, this isn't good…" _

The wall was tall enough to keep the boy from using his thrusters to scale over them and join Samus in battle, and Rundas was having it expand out to trap both himself and the other hunter in battle without interference. Riku became worried that Samus wouldn't be able to last forever against Rundas' apparition, especially since while she had a Grapple Beam to remove his armor she didn't have a Hyper Mode to do anything afterwards. The teenage Overlord didn't feel good about prioritizing his own importance in this battle, but it wasn't a lie that his abilities were necessary to defeat the apparitions. Gritting his teeth, Riku switched his arm cannon to Plasma Beam mode and stared at the ice wall ready to melt it to the ground.

Inside of the walled in area of ice, Samus has a similar line of thinking to Riku, noting in her mind _"I don't have my Plasma Beam, nor do I have access to Hyper Mode. My Power Bombs aren't strong enough to crack this thick ice, so I can only hope that Riku can make it through…I should be able to hold off in the mean time." _Samus cocks her arm cannon and points it forward, firing a regular missile the very moment Rundas fires an icy one from his right arm. The two missiles collide and a flurry of ice is released in the center point of collision between both objects. Samus rushes forward without hesitation, keeping her arms swaying back and forth as she remembers Rundas' arsenal.

"_The armor is attached to the apparition, which means if I strike it…" _Samus leaps from the icy cloud with her visor providing her with clear vision of Rundas, and with her forward momentum the hunter swiftly and precisely strikes the head of the armor. The apparition feels the recoil of the strike and staggers backwards a few feet as Samus flips around after the rebound, landing on her feet and widening the barrel of her arm cannon with Power Beam energy.

"_Rundas is staggered, recovery time estimated to be five seconds…" _Calculating things out in her head with a cold tone, Samus runs at Rundas and sticks the front of her fully charged arm cannon against the chest plate of the armor, releasing a Super Missile point blank that creates an explosion strong enough to send Rundas' apparition crashing against his own ice wall. The inside of Samus' arm cannon cushions most of the explosion for her at the cost of skidding her back twenty feet away from the icy hunter.

As Rundas is peeled off from the wall via his own strength, it was clear that the armor had been cracked slightly. Another strong explosion would probably blow the armor right off, though that still left the hunter without a Hyper Mode to do anything to the apparition with. _"Rundas is damaged, and he appears to be a little annoyed by my attacks. I need to keep up the pressure, give him little chance to strike me with his stronger ice based moves." _

Samus goes into her Morph Ball state and rolls along the slippery ground, paying attention as Rundas recovers fully from her prior attack and forces spikes of ice to rupture through the ground to trip the hunter up. Samus weaves around the spikes and gets near Rundas in a matter of seconds, dropping a Power Bomb underneath his body and quickly flipping herself around to get out of the way before it detonates and releases an explosion powerful enough to shatter the ice armor surrounding the apparition and leave Rundas himself in a daze. Samus thinks to herself as she gets back onto her feet and turns towards the icy phantom _"That should buy Riku some time to break down the ice wall…" _

Speaking of the boy, he is currently firing at the wall with Plasma Beam shots, refusing to let up despite the fact that he is unable to melt even an inch into the ice wall. "Shoot, why is this so hard to get through? Are my powers really that gimped without Hyper Mode to empower them?"

As he asks these two questions towards himself, the boy considers the dire situation he is in, and realizes that he has no choice but to activate that dangerous mode in order to break through the wall. Raising his arm cannon back at the wall, he closes his eyes and focused on the Phazon spores in his body, activating Hyper Mode faster than the usual pace before realizing that with the time limit of this mode he might not have enough seconds to burn through the wall. He looks down at the Phazon gel below the grates, and thinks about siphoning off some extra power from it in order to sustain Hyper Mode for longer.

"…Its worth the risk." Riku says after thinking for a moment about whether or not this would heighten the risk of his body being fully corrupted and possessed by Dark Samus. He begins to charge his arm cannon, and the Phazon rises up in steady streams from the underground.

Inside of the icy arena, Samus begins to cock her arm cannon beside her body as Rundas recovers and creates another set of ice armor. The hunter scoffs, thinking to herself _"What's happening on the other side? …I'm going to have to stall for just a little bit longer." _

Samus aims her arm cannon at Rundas and fires a couple Power Beam shots. The apparition slams his knuckles against the ground and summons a rising wave of ice that blocks the hunter's attacks and forces her to leap to the right to avoid the advance form of the wave. Rundas' apparition follows up with a few spikes that surround the hunter's body, two of which impale on both sides of her arm cannon and lock it into place with a powerful chill to stop her from attacking. Samus is surprised by the icy hunter's clever maneuver that has pinned her in place, especially since by freezing the arm cannon she can't go into Morph Ball mode to escape.

The ice spikes placed in front and behind her body diagonally from each other also prevent her from swerving out of the way of Rundas' next ensuing salvo of ice chunks that he sends forth after he punches apart a nearby spike of his. The impact of the chunks damage Samus' Varia Suit shields immensely, bringing her down to 23% capacity. _"…Its risky, but if I use a couple missiles in rapid succession I might be able to create a close-range explosion that can take care of the spikes." _Samus thinks, her mind barely concerned about the concept of her possible demise as she tries to come up with a way to escape.

However, as Rundas' apparition slowly approaches the hunter, Samus can see some red light burning brighter through the ice wall. It doesn't take long for a searing sound to be heard, and a massive hole is melted through the wall, a ton of steam obscuring the figure of Riku as she thrusts his left hand into the air with a pale blue glow surrounding his body, sending out a Grapple Beam that latches to the back of Rundas' neck and sends a powerful pulse of Phazon through the beam that makes the apparition's head lurch up and swing its arms out to the side as it lets out a pained scream that fits his original dialect.

The apparition solidifies in place as Riku tugs hard on the Grapple Beam to pull Rundas' armor right off, stepping out of the fog to reveal that because of the massive dose of Phazon he absorbed into his body he has small glowing pearl tentacles growing out of different parts of his armor. Samus flinches in shock as the disruption of Rundas' mind forces the spikes of ice to shatter apart and free the hunter. She was shocked by how corrupted Riku looked, especially when he speaks to her and says in a distorted tone "SaMUs, gEt RUnDas wHIle You HaVE the CHancE!"

Samus pauses for a moment in hesitation because of Riku's condition, but quickly nods her head and shakes her arm cannon once to remove the frost from it before aiming it at Rundas' apparition and charging Power Beam energy inside. With a tone of remembrance towards the icy hunter, Samus says to him "Forgive me once more, Rundas…" A Super Missile is fired from the lip of the cannon and with a powerful strike directly into his chest Rundas is knocked back by a powerful explosion and forced onto his knees, the combined damage from the enhanced Grapple Beam and the Super Missile proving to be too much for the apparition, and he begins to fizzle out of existence rather quickly. Before it leaves the world though, it raises its right arm up pitifully and says to the hunter _"T-Thank you…Samus…Once again…" _

Rundas' apparition dies, showing in its final moments that it wasn't simply just a phantom, but rather it carried a bit of the real hunter's personality inside of its ethereal body. Samus closes her eyelids in remembrance of the icy hunter, saying stoically to him despite the lack of his presence "Rest in peace, Rundas…" All the ice in the temple grounds shatters a second later, spreading across the floor and into the pool of Phazon gels as two orbs appear where the apparition stood. One represented a crystal of solid ice and another was a missile of ice. Seeing the first orb swiftly reminded the hunter about Riku's condition, and she shifted her head up and watched as the boy grunted in pain and held his arm cannon towards the grates and constantly shot excess Phazon into the pool to get rid of his Hyper Mode since the time limit had long since passed.

Seeing as he was in the middle of the this process as Samus finished Rundas off, the teenage Overlord manages to complete this process the moment Samus hesitantly asks him "…You siphoned in more Phazon to keep your Hyper Mode going longer, huh?"

Riku pants after getting out of Hyper Mode, the tentacles that were plaguing his armor having vanished alongside the pale blue glow of Phazon. The teenage Overlord weakly stands up and looks at Samus, his vision blurred as he grins behind his visor and says to her "Y-Yeah, I'm glad I did it though…Looks like you were in a tight situation there, haha!" Riku tries to laugh off his pain as nothing and begins to stagger towards his Ice element, but after grabbing her ice missile and ignoring the words of her armor she stands in front of the other Phazon sphere and says to the boy "Don't take another step Riku. I can't allow you to take this sphere."

Riku lifts his head up to look at Samus' firm glare behind her green visor, smiling himself as he scoffs and asks her "What brought this on?" Feigning ignorance on his own condition in the process of asking that question.

"Don't give me that Riku." Samus says, seeing right through the teenage Overlord's ignorance with ease as she raises her arm cannon his way and goes on to mention "You are in no condition to move, let alone endure any further corruption by re-acquiring another one of your elements."

It was clear to Riku just why the hunter was so being so calmly defensive just now, and with a light smirk on his face the boy said to Samus "I get it, you're worried that I'm going to end up like Rundas and the other two hunters, that I'll succumb to corruption and become another one of Dark Samus' pawns…But you need to stand aside and let me grab this element."

Riku takes a single step, and Samus starts charging energy in her arm cannon ready to stop him. The boy pauses and looks up at the hunter as she says with her stoic tone cracking ever so slightly "I was beginning to think I was wrong about you, that you weren't just some reckless kid who didn't have a clue what he was getting himself into…But here you go ready to let your body become nothing but Phazon that will easily be used by Dark Samus for her nefarious ends. I have only one thing to ask you Riku…Are you suicidal, or not?"

This question pierced Riku's mind, causing him to actually forget about his advance for just a fleeting moment as he thinks about what the hunter said. After a few seconds of hearing the whirr of Samus' power beam energy charging the teenage Overlord closes his eyelids and staggers a bit, saying to the hunter "…Samus, before I met you I screwed up really badly on another planet…I allowed the hero of that planet to perish in battle simply because I didn't listen to my gut about warning him of a great danger that I knew had a chance of appearing…And when the hero died because of my foolishness I was too stricken by trauma, self-hatred and fear that I quickly flew away from that planet without lifting a finger to try and stop that monster…I left millions to the reign of a demon for my first gig as a so-called 'hero'…"

"As you can imagine…That left me pretty broken. For months I went without food, water, or human contact as I floated around in the depths of space, carrying nothing inside of me but the fearful images of that demon and the final blow he struck to that world's hero. And now, without even intending to do so, I've ended up involved in the journey of another hero, only this time around the situation is unfamiliar to me. So yeah, I'm really worried that once again I will fail to protect a hero that doesn't deserve to die because of my own naivety at this 'Elemental Overlord' job of mine. If my actions come across as suicidal to you, then that's not a horrible way to look at it…If I accomplish my goal of keeping you alive yet die in the process, then that's a worthy way for me to go out, and I will be perfectly fine with that."

"That's…That's insane!" Samus blurts out in disbelief towards the boy. "You do not need to sacrifice your humanity and your life to save anyone, especially not me!"

Riku was surprised by the brief moment of composure loss that the hunter went through, but chuckled in response and said to her calmly as she began to walk forward "…I hate to borrow a quote here, but I think it fits this situation…" As Riku walks beside Samus' body, he mutters out quietly "'You should remember what you are when you are not a warrior…'"

The hunter freezes in place, staring blankly in recognition of the line the teenage Overlord mentioned to her while quietly muttering out the name of the man who created said line "Adam…"

"That's partially why I am to press on despite all of this Phazon inside of me…I look past the warrior I am and the monster I may become, and remember that at the core of my being I am human…A vulnerable, mortal human…So long as I stay gripped to that humanity, Dark Samus will never be able to lay even a single finger on my body for her nefarious purposes, and I will continue to fight beside you until either the mission ends or the day I die…" Riku swings his hand out weakly at the Phazon sphere containing the Ice element, letting it all be absorbed into his body. His heart begins to pump like a factory now, producing Phazon through his veins at a rapid pace as his skin color begins to change into a pale-blue tint and his hair gains a slight dark blue streak across the front. His organs undergo other various changes, but he is too weak to endure the pain of it all and begins to collapse, all the while smiling and finishing his prior sentence with "I…promise…Sa…mus…"

Riku falls flat against the ground, and with both Phazon spheres gone the planet's supply of Phazon begins to pull away, Bryyo rumbling intensely from the strain of this release as Samus runs over to the fallen boy and quickly picks him up like he was a light feather and throws him over her left shoulder. She then quickly goes for her arm cannon to call he ship over for a quick escape. As she waits for its arrival, she turns to look at the boy's tired face through the visor and gives him a light smile, returning to a stoic expression as she hears the roar of her gunship's engine as it descends. The lift comes down for its owner, and Samus leaps up with Riku in tow to get into the ship. After laying the boy gently in the back of the cockpit the hunter gets to her seat and quickly takes off as the Phazon cloud leaves the planet once more. Samus wastes little time in activating the hyperspace jump to head off to the next destination, planet Elysia…

_Next Time: Minds and Machines_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: A Utopia Above the Sky**

Riku finds himself trapped inside of a dream world, his body floating amidst a black void filled with light-blue fog. He has his normal appearance despite the changes to his body in reality along with the armor he wears. He opens his eyelids and pulls himself upward, his arms floating alongside his body as he begins to look around, trying to discern something through the fog only to find a single shadow wandering from one end of the void to another. The boy tries to float after the shadow, saying nothing as the eerie calm of this world creeps around him.

He moves through the fog, and the shadow eventually stops in place and waits for the boy to appear in front of him before slowly turning around. The being wore armor similar to the Varia Suit, so Riku assumed it was Samus that he was looking at. He lifts his right hand up and opens his mouth to speak, saying words without any voice behind them as the being begins to raise its hands towards the helmet and click it off. The shadowed Samus pulls the helmet off, and Riku immediately is tossed into a state of utter shock that refuses to pass away even though he can barely tell just why his body is reacting like this.

He moves closer to the Samus look-a-like on his own, but before he makes it all the way a sharp pain thrusts itself through his head and forces him to close his eyes and let out a vocal-less scream of pain while various images flash through his mind. There are a couple repeats of what he has seen before, this time joined by new ones. He sees Ridley again, this time the draconic creature having gained a metallic coating as he roars his way. He watches as a wave of Phazon rushes his way with the gruesome distorted visage of Dark Samus floated within, but after that was when things started to deviate from the familiar universe of Metroid…

Riku saw himself riding a golden star through the sky alongside a pink spherical creature, he watched as a blue blur ran circles around his body as he stood in awe, he felt his body gaze upward towards a massive tower that pierced two planet's worth of skies, but when he began to catch a brief glimpse of a towering deity of unknown origin and allegiance the dream world is torn apart by the ravenous scaly claws of a black creature that heralds its presence with a gruesome roar. The teenage Overlord immediately wakes up in a cold sweat, his body lurching upright as he takes a few heavy breathes in and out.

He looks on ahead for a few seconds, noticing that he is inside of Samus' gunship thanks to the window in the front showing him the view of a large planet whose surface could not be identified thanks to the highly poisonous cloud of gas that covered it. As the hunter tilted her head over her seat and calmly asked "So you're awake. Are you feeling ok now?" Riku was busy tilting his head down to look at his double-barreled cannon, which not only had stayed spawned without his will but the light in the barrels were suspiciously flickering between Light and Dark Beam modes before finally settling on the Plasma Beam setting.

"Uh…I guess so." The weary boy says in response to Samus' inquiry. He then snaps back into reality all the way, his earlier actions being done subconsciously as he perks his eyelids open and looks towards the hunter, asking in puzzlement "Hey wait a second, did you carry me back to the ship after I collected the Ice element?"

Samus offers only a light nod as her response, the boy widening his eyes in shock as the gunship pierces the atmosphere of the gargantuan planet Elysia and a light tremor shakes the vehicle. Riku doesn't waste time in saying "Thanks for doing that" to the hunter, and after dispelling his weapon he exerts what little strength he has currently regained in order to rise to his feet and await landing on Elysia.

Samus responds to Riku's thanks with a stoic "Not a problem" without a single mention being made regarding the words the boy said to her before he collapsed on the surface of Bryyo's grand temple. The teenage Overlord did not take any offensive to this. He was actually rather glad to see Samus staying focused on the mission, even after hearing the familiar words of her former Commander being echoed through himself along with having to face fellow bounty hunter Rundas once more.

Of course, that isn't to say that the matter of the bounty hunter apparitions was at an end with just Rundas. If the two of them were headed to Elysia, that means that the two of them were going to face Ghor, the cybernetic bounty hunter. Though he knew how Samus felt on the matter, Riku chose to speak up and says to her "So anyways, we're about to go into battle against Ghor's apparition, right?"

Samus pauses for a moment, possibly out of irritation towards Riku's inquiry, but responds stoically with "Yes. But before we head to the location where I fought him I want to stop by to visit the Aurora Unit on this world and ask it something."

"Sounds like a good plan." Riku says in response, hesitantly stuttering as he rubs the back of his head and goes on to mention to the hunter "You know Samus…I get that you hate me mentioning things I shouldn't know about but-"

"No, forget that I ever said that." Samus, in a surprising move, interrupts the teenage Overlord mid-sentence and as the boy pauses in place she proceeds to say to him "Considering that we've been fighting a plethora of my former enemies, the fact that you know what they are capable of means that you know how to stop and avoid certain maneuvers of theirs. Since we are getting closer to the final confrontation with Dark Samus, its important now more than ever that we cover each others' backs against whatever apparitions remain. So before we arrive at our destination, I want you to tell me just what you know about Ghor's battle style."

Riku pauses for a moment after Samus has finished her sentences, topping off his confusion with a slight tilt of his head as he thinks to himself _"Samus is treating me with a little more respect? I-I guess what I said did have a bit of an impact on her opinion of me, but that's still something I didn't expect." _

Either way the boy looks at it, he was perfectly accepting of Samus' wishes as he stood at the back of the room with a serious expression on his face as he said to the hunter "Ghor wears a bulky yet powerful battle suit whenever he engages a foe. The enhanced strength given to him allows him to lift even your gunship with ease along with giving him a heavy and varied arsenal of weaponry that can possibly match what the Varia Suit is capable of at its strongest. He has a shield on his body that protects him from most exterior attacks and even after that is disabled the only way to damage him is through a reactor attached to the underside of his armor until its destroyed, after which a few shots on the back of his main generator will take him down for good."

"That's correct." Samus swiftly says in response to the boy's long explanation of Ghor's capabilities.

Scratching the back of his helmet, the teenage Overlord says to the hunter "But what I don't get is how Ghor could be brought back as an apparition. He's a robot. Robots don't come back as ghosts last I checked."

Samus responds with a little bit of humor in her voice "You had no problem with the Omega Pirate coming back, so why is Ghor causing you to question the situation? Besides, Ghor does have a bit of organic material in his body, so there would something there for the Phazon to remember when the apparition is created."

"Well the Omega Pirate is different, I was just making a joke during a ser-" In the middle of Riku's response, the boy recognize the shift in the hunter's tone of voice and blinked twice in bewilderment before changing topics and saying to Samus "Hey wait a minute, did you just make a slight joke of your own?"

The hunter didn't say anything, returning to a stoic state of being as the gunship flew towards a technologically advanced golden city kept floating high above the poisonous gases by anti-gravity propulsions attached to the bottom of each segment of this glorious utopia. But the details of this wondrous SkyTown meant little to Riku as he shook his head back and forth once and exclaimed in disbelief "Am I still asleep? I mean seriously, YOU of all people cracked a joke?"

"I can assure you that you're awake." Samus says stoically as her ship glides through SkyTown and makes its way towards the largest and fanciest building where the Aurora Unit lied. Along the way the heroes could see signs of Phazon corruption on the rails between buildings and along the walls of the buildings themselves. The corruption here was worse than on Bryyo, mostly because the two heroes saw a larger amount of areas being affected than on the previous planet. They could only imagine what was going on inside of the buildings, and this very thought worried Samus about the condition of the Aurora Unit.

But not wanting to trail off the previous subject, the hunter looked at Riku and said to him "I'm not devoid of a sense of humor, its just that its usually not a good idea to crack jokes in the middle of an important mission. Of course, some people are able to make it work, like one of my comrades during my time in the Galactic Federation, Anthony Higgs."

After mentioning this person's name, Samus guided her gunship in front of the most grandiose building in SkyTown and set the ship' controls to park, which in turn caused the hover jets below the ship to activate and keep it afloat in front of the entrance to the Aurora Unit's chamber. "Anyways, it should only take me a moment to get the information I need…Assuming the Aurora Unit hasn't been corrupted by Phazon."

Samus opens the roof up and gets out of her seat, performing a graceful acrobatic flip out of her ship that ends with her landing on the thin grated platform outside of the doorway to the Aurora Unit's chamber. With a power beam shot, the hunter enters the building and leaves behind Riku inside of her gunship, though thankfully the poisonous clouds are prevented from entering anyone's lungs thanks to the still functioning filters.

Samus rounds a small curve and ends up staring at another Aurora Unit similar to the one she has seen through the holograms on her ship thus far, but now that the hunter is up close and personal to one for the first time in a long while she is reminded of just how massive they are compared to her and how they disturbingly look like a more metallic version of the Mother Brain despite their docile nature. The tube that the Aurora Unit dubbed with the number of 217 floats in is protected from the Phazon that is currently spreading across the glass in an attempt to break through and possess the Aurora Unit itself.

Seeing the hunter's presence in its chambers though makes the Aurora Unit lift itself up slightly and stare at her, saying in a cold, mechanical voice "Samus Aran…Your presence is most unexpected yet certainly appreciated…Have you come to deliver another vaccine for the Phazon virus plaguing my town?"

The hunter shakes her head in response, but proceeds to state as she walks closer to the front of the Aurora Unit's tube "I may not have a vaccine, but I do plan on dealing with the Phazon in due time. I have come to ask you about something in regards to the Phazon epidemic."

The Aurora Unit nods, saying to Samus in turn "While my systems still function I will be more than happy to help in whatever manner possible. What do you require, Samus Aran?"

"If I recall, the Elysians managed to figure out where the sentient birthplace of Phazon Phaaze lied in the depths of space. Is it possible that such a planet exists again? If you know the exact coordinates, it should be easy to check up on that point in space and see if we need to head out after helping you with your Phazon problem." Samus states her needs and concerns to the Aurora Unit in a dutiful voice while keeping a militaristic posture about her as she stands before its tube.

"I will do what I can, Samus Aran." The Aurora Unit replies in kind, and its analytical systems begin to function in the midst of its sentence at a slow pace because of the Phazon slowly creeping into its tube. It doesn't take very long though for the Aurora Unit to reply to Samus with "…I'm sorry, but Phaaze is nowhere to be found in its last known location."

"I figured as much." Samus says in response to the cybernetic brain's words, nodding her head and following up with a quiet "Thank you" as the Aurora Unit looks down at the hunter.

"Samus Aran…I'm sorry that I…Couldn't be more of an assistance…" The Aurora Unit was starting to succumb to the crawling Phazon, but with a brief glance of pity at the cybernetic brain the hunter said to it "Don't apologize, I will do whatever I can to get rid of the Phazon on this world."

As Samus turned around and quietly began to leave the area, the Aurora Unit said in its final words before being shut down "T…T….Tha…tha…thank…Y-"

The Aurora Unit's words fizzle out of hearing range as Samus leaves through the building door and quietly leaps back onto her gunship, slipping through the hole in the ceiling and heading towards her seat in one swift stride as Riku feels the vibration from the hunter's landing and turns to face her, immediately asking "So, what did you find out?"

"I was trying to find out if Phaaze had been brought back to its original location, but if Dark Samus recreated it then it made the right decision in changing where the planet is. We will have to keep going with the Aurora Unit's plans to find out where Dark Samus is." Samus taps a couple buttons on her ship to disable the parking capacity and prepare the vehicle for travel to the location where Ghor's apparition should lie.

Along the way, Riku says to Samus "You really don't want to go to the Pirate Homeworld, do you?"

The hunter replies to the boy with "Not at all. The only reason I felt even the slightest bit comfortable going there last time was ironically because of the very Phazon I came to loathe. I don't have that luxury this time around, and the Space Pirates are a ruthless and numerous bunch that I would rather avoid facing on their home turf considering its just the two of us. If their world has been infected with Phazon, then that's the one world I would have no regrets seeing get destroyed once we deal with the apparition there."

To show how serious she was regarding her statement, the hunter tightly clenched her fingers around the wheel of her ship, bending the metal out of shape as her anger towards the Space Pirates created an air of unease inside of the ship. Riku speaks up, saying to the hunter "Then we'll just have to take care of the apparition there quickly. For now though, lets focus on Ghor."

"No, you're right." Samus says, calming herself down as she decreases the strength of her grip around the wheel and takes a slight left turn in SkyTown in order to make it towards the main docking bay of this part of the town. The area is rounded in shape to accommodate any decently sized space faring vehicle, though its obvious that the area hasn't been used at all since the last time Samus was there, judging by the burned metal glued to the walls of the docking bay and the broken chunks of bronze to the left of the door.

Samus, remembering how the apparitions have been acting out events of the past, chooses to play things safe and keeps her ship hovering above the docking bay, setting the controls to autopilot as she lifts herself up from her seat and begins to head for the lift in the back to descend onto the docking bay. Riku joins a moment later just as the gunship begins to ascend into the sky to escape the ensuing fight.

The teenage Overlord lands in a puddle of Phazon that is slowly growing outward to consume the docking bay, doing what all other Phazon has been so far and reconstructing the destroyed segments of the docking bay to an almost accurate state. This is still a confusing concept to Riku, who still hasn't come up with any theory towards why Dark Samus would have a normally corrosive substance do a completely opposite function then it was born to do. But the boy didn't have long to think about the problem as Samus pointed ahead with her arm cannon and drew his attention towards the apparition they need to confront.

With a distorted whirr of engines coming from the south of the docking bay, the teenage Overlord and hunter see a hulking bipedal apparition of a mechanical suit standing before them, the massive variety of parts composing the creation making it nearly impossible to describe to the technologically inept mortals of the world. The most recognizable items on this mech suit were the pulsating blades attached to both wrists, the laser blaster on the left arm and the missile launcher attached to the right one. The thin body of Ghor stood in the center of the mech, his head hidden between an oddly designed helmet composed of entirely two-dimensional plates of metal.

"Remember, we need to coordinate our efforts effectively against Ghor's suit. I'll draw his attention so you can use Hyper Mode on the back, then we'll switch off roles until he busts out his reactor." Samus gives a brief set of commands to the teenage Overlord, who smiles and says in response to them all as he draws forth his arm cannon "Not a problem. Lets deal with this swiftly."

Riku pumps a heavy dose of Phazon into his body, pushing himself into Hyper Mode and with a kick off the ground he runs behind the apparition of Ghor as the mechanical hunter points his left arm cannon at Samus and fires a powerful Plasma Beam through the sky that heats the very air to inhuman degrees and forces Samus to leap to the left to quickly escape being melted down in her suit. As Riku gets behind and aims his arm cannon at Ghor's weak point, the mechanical hunter's scanners pick up the enemy's presence and in turn he raises his arms into the air and starts spinning around rapidly thanks to the wheels attached to the heels of his feet.

A vortex of wind picks up around Ghor's apparition, forcing the teenage Overlord to pause his charge shot and straighten his body, activating his back thrusters in turn to push his body away from the mechanical tornado. Riku hates having to prolong his time in Hyper Mode, especially since he could only use it for such a short period, but he couldn't peg down the generator on the back of his mech suit while Ghor was keeping up such a whirling momentum. Then Ghor began to move, spinning around rapidly towards Samus Aran and leaving Riku with a gritted smirk of annoyance as she is forced to land on the ground and keep his arm cannon pointed forward ready to capitalize on whenever the mechanical hunter stops.

Samus notices the dilemma Riku has to deal with and focuses her attention Ghor, quickly recalling her methods used in the previous battle to deal with the rapid rotation of the hunter's mechanical suit as she sidesteps to the right in order to get out of the mechanical hunter's whirlwind of destruction. After landing on the ground Samus glances to the right and briefly notices a puddle of Fuel Gel on the ground next to the expanding Phazon one, and without any hesitation she turns her arm cannon towards the puddle and fires an Ice Missile from the icy barrel of her weapon in order to freeze over the Fuel Gel with a single frozen impact. Samus then takes another sidestep to put herself in front of the frozen puddle, nudging back towards Riku to convince him without words to get out of the way as Ghor spins back her way.

The hunter waits patiently for the mechanical hunter's apparition to approach her, making sure to let only a couple seconds stand between her and Ghor before she leaps high off the ground and somersaults over the hunter's body as he proceeds to connect with the ice and slip up his momentum, his feet skidding along the ground uncontrollably towards the southern wall of the docking bay. Samus lands on the ground and turns around to face Ghor, charging up a missile in her arm cannon in preparation for what's the come next.

Ghor crashes against the wall, the glowing generator core of his mech suit exposed perfectly for Riku to strike with a charged Hyper Mode shot, which comes out in the form of a gigantic meteor that collides with and explodes upon Ghor's back with the megaton force of a nuclear blast contained within an explosion roughly the size of the mechanical suit itself. Ghor's ethereal form flickers colors between the pale Phazon blue and the sleek glowing grey of his former appearance. Before Ghor has a chance to recover from this powerful blow, Samus launches a Super Ice Missile at the generator, creating an explosion that solidifies a giant spike of ice through the mechanical hunter's body for just a brief moment.

The causes the innards of the mech suit to starts short-circuiting as red electricity surges through Ghor's body and the glowing red reactor Samus mentioned before drops down between both of the suit's legs. The mechanical hunter pulls himself from the wall and turns to face the two warriors. Riku's Hyper Mode ends, but he will no longer need to use it for this battle anyways. Samus charges on ahead without hesitation, leaping up and curling into her Morph Ball so the moment she lands she will be able to keep her momentum as she lands, and as she rolls across the ground she prepares to drop a Power Bomb in front of the reactor since she doesn't have the ability to use her Boost Ball.

The bomb explodes the moment its released, creating a massive explosion that encompasses Ghor's reactor and damages it to the point that it instantly explodes. Samus rolls away from the explosion and unfurls from her Morph Ball state, noting in her mind that the second phase of battle was easier to deal with thanks to her having the Power Bomb on-hand this time around. Ghor's apparition has now taken critical damage, and with his reactor destroyed and the mechanical hunter on the verge of defeat he activates Hyper Mode on his own despite the fact that he shouldn't have the ability to do so.

Riku grits his teeth and thinks to himself _"Shoot, we won't be able to deal enough damage to Ghor's apparition unless I enter Hyper Mode again…Screw it, I can worry about my weakness after we've won!" _The teenage Overlord pumps Phazon into his body through the spores once more to enter Hyper Mode, and though Samus is at first worried about the boy doing this twice in one battle she quickly cocks her arm cannon ready to do her share of damage to the Ghor apparition.

Riku fires a steady stream of Phazon meteors against Ghor's main reactor, but the mechanical hunter spins around to reflect all of them with his sword arms. Ghor then stops in place and thrusts his left hand out, releasing his own grapple beam that pierces into Riku's chest plate and tugs hard enough to jerk his body forward and force his arms out beside his hips as he slowly gets pulled towards Ghor himself. However, Samus launches another Super Ice Missile at Ghor's generator that deals a heavy amount of damage despite his Hyper Mode providing a great deal of resistance.

This missile also breaks Ghor's hold on the grapple beam, freeing Riku and allowing the boy to kneel down and cock his weapon towards the mechanical hunter's back as he begins to turn around to face Samus, madness and aggressive brutality being the only thing the apparition is capable of thinking of as he looks at the once fellow hunter and thrusts his right arm out, firing a series of missiles that Samus casually dodges around by turning into her Morph Ball state and swerving back and forth along the ground to escape the explosion radius of each and every one of them.

However, Ghor charges forward at high speeds, the wheels grinding along the ground as he swings his left sword in a downward arc in an attempt to pierce through Samus' Morph Ball as it lines up with the tip of his blade. Sensing the attack coming in seconds, Samus drops a bomb and launches herself into the air with that single explosion, unfurling from the bomb and spinning around to perform a perfect landing as she kneels beside the teenage Overlord and synchronizes a charged shot beside him, both of them pointing their arm cannons at Ghor's exposed back and giving each other a brief nod before launching a Super Ice Missile and Charged Phazon Meteor at the mechanical hunter respectively.

A furious explosion combining both ice and fire consume the apparition's entire being, burning apart his generator for the few seconds the explosion exists to the point that the mechanical suit is unable to function any further and it promptly explodes. The apparition of Ghor himself is thrown from the explosion onto the center of the docking bay, his legs incinerated as he lies chest first on the ground, pitifully raising his right hand into the air in hopes that Samus would save him as he has regained a hold on his sanity.

This is a repeat of past events that the hunter recognizes, but as Samus stands up beside Riku she notices that Ghor is not acknowledging her presence specifically but rather that of the phantom of herself that has been appearing here and there across all planets but Aether. Samus herself begins to walk away from the scene as an apparition of Dark Samus' corporal form suspends Ghor's apparition in mid-air and the Samus phantom wastes her time trying to save Ghor by shooting at Dark Samus herself. Ghor's apparition perishes in the grasp of Dark Samus' form, but unlike the other apparitions up until this point the mechanical hunter doesn't drop a sphere of Phazon containing an element of Riku's. However, there is one sphere that contains within it a pod that has four little missiles spread out from a central point.

With the scene of Ghor's demise played out, Samus turns around and acquires the item that floats where the mechanical apparition once stood, and her armor says to her "Seeker Missile Systems back online." Seeing as there was nothing that the hunter could test her reacquired item on though, Samus simply looks at Riku and says with a partial smile behind her face "Good job there. How are you holding up after using Hyper Mode twice?"

"I'm doing fine." Riku says, brushing the chin of his helmet with the top of his arm cannon as she smirks and dispels his weapon for the time being. "Though if I must be honest-"

Before the boy can finish the second part of his sentence, SkyTown begins to tremble because of the Phazon being removed from it bit by bit. "Errr…Scratch that thought for now, lets get out of here." Riku says with a light "Tsk" preceding it. Agreeing with a nod of the head, Samus uses the buttons on her arm cannon to call forth her ship from the underside of the docking bay. It doesn't take long for the heroes to leap onto the lift and rise up into the cockpit of Samus' ship, and with the hunter at the helm they quickly depart from SkyTown to prevent the Phazon from destroying it. They pierce the planet's atmosphere and watch as the cloud of Phazon pulls itself like a needle through the depths of space.

With Elysia rescued from the grasp of Phazon, there was only one other planet to go, and that was the Pirate Homeworld that Samus Aram herself admitted to loathing with every last fiber of her being. But before the two heroes departed for that horrid planet, Samus turned her head over the right shoulder of her seat and asked Riku "So…What were you saying before?"

Riku waves his left arm out beside his body, the flow of dealing with Phazon becoming so natural at this point that he barely feels a rush in his veins whenever they leave a planet anymore, replies to the hunter with "As far as Hyper Mode goes, I've really adapted to using it in battle. I honestly kind of wish Phazon didn't run the risk of killing me, if it wasn't for that and the fact that Dark Samus' demise will remove the spores from my body I'd honestly like to have been able to keep Hyper Mode on me when I leave this galaxy."

"You're going to leave the galaxy after this mission is over with?" Samus stoically inquires.

Riku awkwardly rubs the back of his helmet with his right hand, saying to Samus "Well yeah. I mean I still have my doubts about my worthiness of the title, but I am the Elemental Overlord. As such, it is my duty to go help out other worlds who might not be able to handle the threats sent their way. I can't just stick around on one world, even if I do have some emotional attachment towards one of its heroes."

Without even realizing it, Riku had complimented Samus, which brought a smile to her face as she turns back towards the front of her ship and says in response to the boy's explanation "Well, I guess we all have our own duties that we have to commit to in life. But as big as the universe is, there is always a chance that we will cross paths again, and just because you've helped a world once doesn't mean that you can never revisit that place again."

Samus was dropping hints left and right that she wouldn't mind seeing Riku again after the Dark Samus incident is dealt with, but before the teenage Overlord could comment on how surprisingly attached the hunter is getting towards him Samus said in a firm stoic voice "Its time for us to go to the Pirate Homeworld. Prepare yourself for a conflict with the Space Pirates, Riku…" The teenage Overlord confidently nods his head, the reflection of this action visible slightly in the ship's window as Samus activates the hyperspace jump function and opens a rift in front of her ship that she quickly zips into to take the two of them to the infamous Pirate Homeworld…

_Next Time: Deception of Two Kinds_


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: The Final Apparition**

The gunship bursts through the hyperspace gate yet again, slowly flying across the depths of space, only to the surprise of Riku the area is covered in a burning crimson hue. And the reason for that is quite obvious from afar. Coming into view was the Pirate Homeworld, a burning red mass of a planet with a glowing orange atmosphere and a scar of burning landing across the center of the surface. There was no logical way to explain this phenomena, but there was no reason to be concerned about it at a first glance.

After all, Samus plunged her ship through the atmosphere of the planet once before, and it was almost certain that if there was something wrong the ship would be advising the hunter to not enter the Pirate Homeworld. The gunship pierced the atmosphere not long after Riku made this observation, and after going through dark red clouds of unknown origin one of the possible reasons for the planet's atmospheric conditions is revealed. Coming out from the clouds is a massive torrent of acid rain that could burn apart any organic life form' tissue in seconds.

Not even the Space Pirates themselves were immune to this rain, for up ahead one could see that their gruesome technologically advanced bases are protected by large energy shields in order to protect themselves from the planet's harsh conditions. One had to wonder just why the Space Pirates even bothered to set up base on this world if their lives were constantly being threatened by the very environment itself. Though the shield would normally prove a problem for larger space-faring vehicles, Samus remembers a trench that her ship is just small enough to slip through and begins to head towards it.

However, a couple of turrets set up on the edge of the walls notices the presence of Samus' gunship and begins to activate all on its own, their long massive barrels lowering and firing powerful piercing plasma shots that the hunter dodges with a tight turn of her wheel that slants her ship sideways. Riku is forced to activate his thrusters to keep himself from slamming feet first against the machinery of Samus' gunship, but finds himself slanted sideways thanks to the switch in the ship's position.

"You better get into the trench quickly Samus, otherwise we are going to run into some serious problems!" Riku alerts the hunter of his current predicament, which actually helps her better concentrate on the situation as two more plasma shots thrust across the sky their way. The urgency of the situation forces Samus to kick up the speed of her ship in order to make one strong push towards the trench up ahead. When the hunter finally makes it in, the turrets shut down, though their attacks still gravely damaged the surface of the planet.

With the ship now level with the ground, Riku shuts off his thrusters but lands on the side of his armor because of how everything was positioned before. A sharp pain shakes its way through his left arm, but it wasn't strong enough to completely incapacitate the limb. "Ow!" The boy blurts out after this landing, proceeding to think to himself _"I can see why Samus was reluctant to have a passenger on her ship…" _

He pushes himself off the ground and stands upright in a few seconds, and as Samus slowly glides through the trench the teenage Overlord asks her "Say, how are you going to deal with the acid rain?"

"I won't need to." The hunter quickly points out to her companion, which does nothing but confounds him in turn.

"How come?" He asks with his head tilted in confusion.

"Because with the path we will be taking, we will be avoiding all of the acid rain. Like I said before, I don't want to stay on the Pirate Homeworld for very long, even though it seems as though the planet has become abandoned recently…" As Samus makes that observation, Riku looks outside the window and notices that all of the red walls and landscapes are slowly being consumed by a vast quantity of Phazon, the amount in question surpassing even that of all other worlds the two heroes had traversed thus far. Dark Samus must have targeted this planet first, which is the only way to explain the planet's current condition.

"I'm guessing you made that assumption because of all the Phazon, right?" Riku asks, to which the hunter nodded her head and said to the boy in response "The Space Pirate sought out Phazon long ago, but had a difficult time controlling it for their own ends. After Dark Samus came back and took over their operations a lot of Space Pirates died because of their deep connection of Phaaze. Such a massive amount of deaths likely caused the Space Pirates to mostly abandon this planet once Dark Samus returned and began to corrupt their planet yet again. But a few of the Space Pirates must have stayed behind to defend their technology until it would be safe for it to be transferred, since those turrets aren't automated."

"Does that mean we are likely to encounter a group of Space Pirates?" Riku asks with a hint of concern in his voice.

Samus shakes her head and says to the boy "I highly doubt that. Even though they've detected us, they won't want to run the risk of coming after us while their numbers are as low as they are. Even if they are suicidal enough to try and stop me, we won't be here long enough for them to do anything."

"I suppose so. Still, it seems weird to come to a Space Pirate base and only have to deal with one thing before leaving." Riku says, pointing out the anti-climatic atmosphere of the situation in an almost disappointed manner as Samus' gunship makes the final stretch into a diagonal tunnel to the Landing Pad Alpha, which consists of a barely stable platform hovering over the darkness that leads into the planet's core.

The ship's legs extend out and touch down on the platform carefully, the most obvious thing to note beyond the view of the window is that there are two directions for the heroes to go after they leave the ship, though only one was completely open while the other would require a Power Beam shot to open. Not that the second one mattered in the slightest, if Riku's assumptions about Samus' quick route was remembered correctly.

The ship releases some steam once it had fully landed on the ground, and Samus lifts herself out of her seat and turns to Riku, asking him quietly "Before we head out, I'm going to need to quiz you on the final apparition. List off their name and abilities and possible weaknesses."

The teenage Overlord taps the chin of his helmet and looks towards the ceiling, calling upon his memories before listing off to Samus "Hunter Gandrayda is a shape shifter, she can assume a variety of forms of differing sizes and shapes beyond her normal figure. Without her transformations, she is a very agile foe with a basic control over electricity, and she can cloak herself rather frequently. But during that invisibility phase she is vulnerable to high-damage attacks because she can't activate her Hyper Mode."

"Excellent, you should be able to handle her apparition in battle, save for the invisibility cloak part of her arsenal since neither one of us have an X-Ray Visor." Samus makes one quick note of their vulnerability to that part of Gandrayda's arsenal, and after congratulating Riku for remembering his information correctly the hunter left through the back lift of her ship to enter the Pirate Homeworld on foot. Naturally, the boy follows suite soon afterwards, and finds Samus standing away from the lift and using her arm cannon's buttons to configure a couple things inside of the gunship.

"I'm going to activate the self-defense measures onboard the ship. If the Space Pirates try and attack the ship, they will be shot down. If overwhelming force threatens to blow the ship up, then it will fly away and intercept us wherever we may be." After one final button press fully sets up the defenses of the ship, Samus lowers her arm beside her body and makes a ninety degree turn to the right in order to look towards the open passage to the right of the ship, confirming Riku's earlier assumptions about their course of action.

The two heroes begin to walk towards the passage, with Samus explaining to the boy "Up ahead is a train that the Space Pirates use to quickly move between facilities. This one will take us to the Proving Grounds, where Gandrayda's apparition should be waiting."

Along the way to the train, Riku observed a pattern in Samus' behavior that was different than what he saw of her earlier, specifically regarding the apparitions. "Samus…How come you aren't feeling as bad about facing Ghor and Gandrayda's apparitions as you were when you fought Rundas'?"

"Because Rundas was…was different than the other two. He saved my life twice, and his personality was very similar to my own. There was just more of a connection between me and him compared to the other two, so in turn its easier for me to deal with having to face Ghor and Gandrayda again, even though their deaths the first time around still affected me." Samus gives a stoic explanation towards Riku's inquiry right as the two of them entered the Transit Station 1-A, where the hunter moves towards the right to scan a terminal that will summon forth the tram the two heroes need to take in order to reach the Proving Grounds.

The tram rides in on two laser rails that shoot out upon activation of the terminal. However, the battered ride has a large quantity of Phazon on it that makes it hard for it to move around, and it could likely only manage a couple more runs even if the Phazon was removed from it. The heroes naturally are cautious as they leap onto the tram, and continue to stay so as it goes backwards along the laser rails towards the Proving Grounds. The heroes are taken through a dark tunnel with the only lighting provided by the Phazon on the tram, but thankfully this gloomy atmosphere doesn't last for very long as an ascension drops them off at Transit Station 1-B, which looks exactly the same as the last one.

Samus and Riku leap off the tram, which shakes as it stops completely in place. All that's left now between the two heroes and the Proving Grounds is a single laser-barrier door, which Samus points at with her arm cannon while saying to the boy "Lets put an end to these apparitions for good…"

A single Power Beam shot is all it takes to open the door as usual, and beyond it lies a large circular room with a black iron lift in the center that is currently locked down. As the heroes enter the room the door behind them is sealed tight by a blast lock, likely because the Space Pirates knew exactly where they were headed to. The ground around the lift is plastered with puddles of Phazon and massive shrooms that dwarf the heroes. The large shutters that usually border the edge of the room have gone up, revealing the acid rain outside that is prevented from getting in thanks to a shield wrapped around the room.

Riku, seeing no signs of Gandrayda's apparition, said to Samus "There's something I want to check before she shows up…" and rushes on ahead past the lift until he is standing at the edge of the Proving Grounds. With a kick of his feet the boy activates his armor's thrusters and suspends himself twenty feet off of the air, allowing him to look past the top of the facilities and see the wilted remains of the Pirate Homeworld's Leviathan Seed beyond the thick of rain.

Suspiciously, there are four long shielded tubes reaching into the Leviathan Seed that pump a constant stream of Phazon from the planet's surface into it for unknown reasons. This garners a somewhat worried glare from Riku, who lands on the ground and turns to face Samus, saying to her "No wonder the Space Pirates haven't left this world yet. They are running some sort of secret project over at the deserted Leviathan Seed."

Samus lays her right fingers against her chin and starts to think to herself about Riku's information, saying a few seconds later "The only thing I can think of is that they are taking advantage of the rebirth of Phazon to try and cultivate their own brand for continued use even after we stop Dark Samus. The Leviathan Seed would be the perfect area to work on such a thing."

"But Samus, the thing is that they were pu-" Before Riku can fully explain himself, a figure fizzles into existence in the center of the room with a wavy, phantasmal design to their body as it fully forms.

The final apparition, Gandrayda, appears in an ethereal blue state as to expected of this kind of phenomenon, but there wasn't much to her design that needed explaining. The corrupted shape-shifter had the figure of a human woman, but with none of the skin. Instead, behind her sleek once purple membrane body is a dark blue skeleton, with most of the vital organs covered up by the PED Suit she once wore. The head, once pink in its nature, is topped with an odd triangular shaped set of fins. Gandrayda's apparition grins at Samus in an almost unnatural fashion and prepares herself for battle by dragging electricity around her body through the Phazon in the ground.

Samus and Riku both cock their arm cannons for battle against the final apparition, with the teenage Overlord pushing himself into Hyper Mode without hesitation and charging up his Dark Beam energy in his barrels. However, as expected from the nimble hunter, Gandrayda leaps to the right side of the room and while she in mid-air she kicks with her right leg to send three bolts of electricity at Samus in an arced split. The hunter is forced to leap up to dodge them as the center one impacts the ground and fizzles away.

Gandrayda uses the environment to her advantage, hiding behind one of the Phazon mushrooms to avoid Riku's line of sight while swinging her right hand out to fire an arrow of electricity towards Samus as she descends. The hunter is forced to go into her Morph Ball to dodge the attack, and unfurls the very moment she lands on the ground. As Gandrayda stood on the ground motionless Riku ran behind the shroom and thrust his arm cannon out, firing a large Phazon empowered Dark Beam at the shape-shifter that collides with her ethereal body and creates a black void that sucks in everything around the hunter's body and deals multiple units of damage to her simultaneously.

Thankfully, the attack discerns foe from friend, thus Samus has nothing to worry about from the black void as she stands and charges her Power Beam ready to strike the apparition as it continuously glitches between ethereal and solid until the void vanishes, at which point Gandrayda is met with a Super Ice Missile straight to the center of her body, which impales her right through with a gigantic ice crystal for just a brief second, dealing a heavy amount of damage in the process.

The apparition giggles at the pain as the ice crystal vanishes, and with a clap of her hands Gandrayda immediately begins to change shape in a flash of light. After just a brief seconds the hunter turns into an apparition of the Omega Pirate, complete with all of the Phazon sacs on the arms and legs. Riku is now put out of Hyper Mode, but isn't too concerned about that since Gandrayda hasn't activated hers yet. Though he was a bit tired after coming out of that mode, he still held his arm cannon up with confidence and switched to Plasma Beam mode ready to fire upon the Phazon sacs of the Omega Pirate-G.

Samus has her own method of dealing with the Phazon sacs that was different than what she did before. Cocking her arm cannon into the air, the hunter charges her Power Beam as though she was preparing a Super Ice Missile, only for four different reticules to appear from the view of her visor that targets all the Phazon sacs. Samus thus is able to launch four missiles all at once from her cannon, and after they split off at the center they home in on their designated targets and impact with a series of explosions that instantly blow up the Phazon sacs despite the fact that they are normal missiles. It was the one weakness of Gandrayda's transformations, in that while she can perfectly copy voices, powers and sizes the defenses of those she copied are greatly weakened.

Thus after losing the Omega Pirate's main form of attack and staggering back, Gandrayda quickly transformed back into her natural state and swiftly ran off to the left to avoid being struck by a charge Plasma Beam shot from Riku that came from behind. This shot nearly seethes the side of Samus' helmet, but the hunter sees her allies' mistimed attack and swerves her body to the right to avoid it. Riku chuckles out of embarrassment, but doesn't loom on the issue for long as he turns to the left and sees Gandrayda kicking the ground with a skidding blow to send a jolt of electricity straight at him like a swift piercing arrow.

The teenage Overlord leaps into the air and activates his thrusters while holding his arm cannon forward, using a few Plasma Beam shots to deal minimal damage to the apparition as her attack passes entirely underneath her body. However, now that he was held in the air, Gandrayda leapt a surprisingly long distance across the sky and latched both her arms and legs around Riku's armor, using her electricity powers to disrupt his visor to prevent him from seeing her as she attempted to strangle him around the neck, which wasn't completely armored and thus was vulnerable to such a tactic.

The fact that the apparition could actually perform such a move caught the teenage Overlord entirely off-guard, but despite the air fleeing his head he wasn't too concerned about his fate as he glances to the right and sees Samus with her arm cannon cocked into the sky. The hunter fires a swift missile and strikes Gandrayda in the back and hurts her to the point that she has to quickly pulls her arms away and kick off of the boy's armored body to perform a backflip that allows her to move nimbly through the air to dodge two more of Samus' missiles before landing on the ground on the eastern side of the room.

Riku takes a moment to regain his air while Samus looks at Gandrayda's apparition and quickly charges at her, moving at such a fast speed along the ground that her Speed Booster kicks in and covers her in a shining aura, allowing her to run even faster towards the shape-shifter. However, there was just enough time for Gandrayda to flip out of the way, going diagonally over the hunter's body in an elegant fashion. But Samus knew that she would do this, and because of the shape-shifter's path there would be no way for her to change direction mid-flight.

Samus grinds to a stop and keeps her Speed Booster charge, turning herself around and waiting for Gandrayda to fall perfectly into place before launching herself like a rocket at warp speed towards the shape-shifter, impacting with her and carrying her to the shield surrounding the Proving Grounds with the equivalent force of ten Super Missiles packed into her strike. The shield cracks slightly from the impact, and despite this Gandrayda still only giggles merrily despite any normal person wanting to scream in pain from what just happened to them.

Samus pushes herself away from Gandrayda and lands on the ground as the apparition peels herself away from the shield and initiates another transformation. The hunter widens her eyes and quickly leaps back as the transformed Gandrayda descends, having now taken on the form of the improved Emperor Ing in all of its gigantic, gruesome glory.

By this time though, Riku has regained his breath and swiftly charges up his Plasma Beam, activating Hyper Mode simultaneously to power-up his ensuing attack, which as usual comes out in the form of a gigantic Phazon meteor that impacts with the false glowing core inside the Emperor Ing-G and causes the mighty beast to stagger right in the middle of its roar. As the shape-shifter is left disoriented by the teenage Overlord's attack Samus leaps into the air and activates her Screw Attack, curling herself in a saw-like orange aura as she aims for the underside of the Emperor Ing, taking advantage of a vulnerable part of the skin to break through and strike the core with a more powerful blow than what any missiles she launched would be capable of doing to the shape-shifter.

The hunter is positioned behind the Emperor Ing-G after getting out of her Screw Attack, but that doesn't make much of a difference as her attack managed to knock Gandrayda out of that gruesome form and forced her to revert to her basic state. She immediately leaps to the other side of the room, but along the way she turns herself invisible to avoid being focused down by fire from both opponents.

Now things were going to be a little harder for the two heroes, for they had no way of detecting where Gandrayda was via their visors. Thus, while Riku was still in Hyper Mode, he decided to get a little creative with his powers. He hadn't actually used his Grass powers ever since reacquiring them from the Omega Pirate apparition, but now that he was on this battlefield he thought of a rather clever way to use them. Focusing on the Phazon mushrooms in the room, Riku makes them burst apart and spread clouds of spores across the battlefield, some of which attach to Gandrayda as she appears to be zipping around to head towards Samus.

Riku's move allows the hunter to pick up on the shape-shifter's presence at the cost of knocking himself out of Hyper Mode yet again. As he limply hangs his arms in front of his body, Samus charges up her Super Ice Missile ready for the final blow as Gandrayda leaps at her in an attempt to strangle her body. The attack is launched and strikes the shape-shifter hard, impaling her with a crystal ice spike that simultaneously launches her back through the air and makes her slam against the center of the lift stomach first.

With the apparition defeated, its image begins to spasm on the ground as it weakly holds its right arm into the air and transforms into a bunch of different figures, such as Rundas, Ghor, the Omega Pirate, Emperor Ing, and finally ending off with a perfect replica of Samus that strikes a cord in the real hunter's heart for just a moment as Gandrayda's apparition vanishes into the Phazon and leaves behind two last spheres. One contains Riku's last element, Electricity, and the other one contains an electronic version of Samus' Grapple Beam called the Grapple Voltage.

Samus goes and picks up this final lost part of her arsenal, which adds nothing to the exterior of her armor, while Riku takes the last Phazon sphere needed to complete his elemental line-up. But this final element comes with a deadly side-effect far worse than all other ones that have come beforehand. With a sharp headache piercing the boy's head, Riku swiftly falls to his knees and grunts in eternal agony, his fist clenching against his chest as his heart rapidly pulsates inside of his body like a star. There was no longer any sweat being drawn from his skin, only Phazon came out through the pores from here on out. The rest of Riku's hair finished changing color, his eyes became pure blue with the pupils joining in on this change against their will while his tongue became dark purple and his innards twisted and turned.

Samus tries to comfort Riku during this revolting transformation, but the boy bravely holds his right hand out for just a second to convince her to leave him be. As all this pain thrusts itself through his body, he sees Dark Samus trying to tempt him into succumbing, its voice echoing through his mind over and over again, adding much to his pain as the cycle of configuration nears an agonizing end. With the final bit of Phazon added to his spore, Riku feels a bit dizzy in the head, but doesn't feel as though he will fall unconscious anytime soon.

This was pretty concerning, all things considered. Riku was now filled with 75% Phazon, with the only bits of flesh he can feel being his muscles and brain. His organs were an unidentifiable mess clustered inside of a body built around the production of Phazon, and all the boy could thank for the fact that Dark Samus hadn't taken him over at that very moment was that was his own willpower to overcome the corrupting reach of Phazon. Standing up straight, Riku turns to Samus, who asks him "…How are you holding up?"

"Pretty fine, actually…It doesn't feel right though, considering how far corrupted I am." Riku's speaks now with a slight echo in his voice, but his tone can be discerned as one of concern towards his own condition.

Before the conversation could continue though, the Pirate Homeworld begins to tremble as Phazon is being pulled away towards where Dark Samus lies. The pools and remaining spores float off of the Proving Grounds' floor and fly towards the crack in the shield that Samus' earlier Speed Booster charge, seeping out into the acid rain atmosphere without any negative side effects to their structure. Samus turns around and is prepared to escape the planet alongside Riku, but is shocked to find that the blast door is still up on the door they entered through.

"What? What's going on here?" Samus asks in confusion, theorizing a seconds later that "Don't tell me the Space Pirates have locked us in here to prevent our escape…But what's the point if their forces are so few?"

As this question is asked by a worried Samus, the teenage Overlord looks towards the north of the room and without reason the tremors come to an abrupt, quiet stop. At 75% corruption, Riku finds himself with a hypersensitivity towards Phazon, and his sight is attract towards the north as something unexpected happens. All of the Phazon that covered the Pirate Homeworld descends from the skies as if it was being drawn in by some magnetic-like force…Towards the Leviathan Seed.

Riku quickly puts two and two together, recalling the dreams he's had twice over during his time in the Metroid world, and with an understand of what they are meant to portray the boy realizes just what is going on at the Leviathan Seed. With his left fist clenched in panic, the teenage Overlord says to Samus "Samus, the Space Pirates aren't planning to cultivate Phazon for themselves! They are using it to revive-"

It was too late to warn the hunter of what was about to occur. All the Phazon on the planet has entered the Leviathan Seed, and moments later a lithe draconic shadow flies out from where the seed stands, its wings spread wide as a piercing, lively screech fills the atmosphere of the Pirate Homeworld. This nightmarish noise makes the usually stoic Samus freeze up momentarily before she turns to face the north end of the Proving Grounds and say in a partially horrified tone "It can't be…"

After a few moments on uneasy silence as Riku instinctively summons his arm cannon, the draconic figure descends from the skies, crashing down through the ceiling of this enclosed room with so much force that the chunks of metal that lie along the ground afterwards are barely recognizable. Acid rain now pours in across half of the room, and the shield that protected this are has been obliterated with one fell swing of this beast's tail. The rain doesn't harm this creature, as evidenced by how easily he is able to stand on his muscular legs and extend his fibrous wings out past the width of the Proving Grounds.

There was no mistaking this beast as Samus' most hated foe, Ridley, who was now back to life before her very eyes despite his assumed demise in the Pirate Homeworld Leviathan Seed. This was certainly no apparition, but at the same time Ridley had not been brought back in his familiar purple draconic form. He wears a very durable, Phazon-enhanced armorskin with a hellish blue tint along with protective armored plating around the rest of his body. However, in spite of his defenses, Ridley looked to be having some issues after being revived, as evidenced by the sparks of Phazon seeping out of his skin along with his occasionally pained growl. He still held his head up high and glared at Samus with his piercing red eyes while compressing his claws inward as he held them beside his chest.

"_I-Incomplete…I am…INCOMPLETE!" _Ridley exclaims in a deep, bestial tone of voice, which for the teenage Overlord is both an unexpected yet frightening thing to hear in person, especially thanks to how imposing the massive creature was to look at as he stood before his very eyes.

After exclaiming this to the two armored figured, Ridley's body was consumed by static as his body went from being covered in Phazon-enhanced armorskin to a basic grey metallic coating, his wings becoming lighter in the process. This change makes the dragon stumble back a bit, but he regains his composure just as the two heroes catch a brief glimpse of his original purple skinned red winged self before he returns to his Omega form.

"He hasn't been fully revived…" Samus calmly notes as she aims her arm cannon at Ridley's mouth with her body trembling only slightly at the beast's presence.

"_I require more Phazon…" _Ridley says in a slightly unhinged tone of voice, the once intelligent if very callous beast reduced to an almost addictive state towards the corruptive material as he glares down at Riku and proceeds to stutter out _"The boy…The boy is a boundless factory of Phazon! You…You shall be devoured and become one with me to complete my revival!" _

Without any regard for who is in front of his body, Ridley lunges forward with his mouth agape and roars, only to be met with a missile straight inside of his mouth and forces him back to where he once stood with smoke loosely seeping between his fangs as he turns towards the one responsible for striking him, the accursed hunter Samus Aran.

"_You…You are still pestering me to this very instant! I was a fool to not devour you when I had the chance all those years ago on that pitiful mining colony. I will rectify that mistake now, hunter. PREPARE TO JOIN YOUR PARENTS INSIDE OF MY BODY!" _Ridley flaps his wings once and lets out a loud roar that makes only Riku flinch briefly in fear.

Standing courageously towards the beast, Samus says in response to his threats "You aren't the only one who plans to fix past mistakes. This time around Ridley, I will make sure to destroy every last bit of your body, so not even the best of your scientists will be able to put you back together!" Cocking her arm cannon towards the beast, Samus is joined in turn by Riku, who finds confidence in himself thanks to the hunter's powerful boast and aims his arm cannon at the deadly Ridley, preparing to engage him in a battle for both his life and Samus'…

_Next Time: Phazon Fusion_


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:**

**Forgive me for this short chapter. I did up the calculations for the last few events in this story and realized that if I split what would have been one chapter now into two I would end this story off at an even 20 chapters, so that's what I chose to do. **

**Thank you and enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Ridley I: History Repeats**

Riku looks up at the fearsome Ridley as the beast falls onto its fours like the primal monster it is, the ground trembling intensely as a small shockwave of dust spreads across the air around Ridley's massive form. The teenage Overlord considers pushing himself into Hyper Mode again, his eyelids beginning to close in an act of concentration only for Samus to notice and say to the boy "Don't do it, it's a terrible idea."

Riku opens his eyelids and lets out a puzzled "Huh?" but is forced to leap back as Ridley opens his mouth and launches a few homing fireballs at both him and Samus, forcing the hunter to curl into her Morph Ball and roll to the left quickly to avoid them as they hit the ground while Riku lets out a couple Light Beam shots to cut through the heat of the fireballs. Once the hunter unfurls from her spherical state and aims he arm cannon at Ridley's open mouth ready to launch another missile inside of it, she quickly says to the boy "If you feed him Phazon, you'll just make him stronger. Just use your normal attacks for now, and maybe you'll have an opportunity to use it later."

In the midst of her explanation, the missile is swiftly launched from the tip of her arm cannon, only for it to explode upon Ridley's plated jaw as he closes his mouth right in the nick of time, earning an angered "Tsk!" from Samus as she stands upright and waits cautiously for the draconic beast to make its next move. Riku nods his head out of agreement towards the hunter's prior advice and quickly takes his arm cannon towards Ridley and sidesteps towards the left side of the room, keeping his aim focused on the mouth specifically to mimic the hunter's actions and wait for the prime time to strike while simultaneously putting distance between himself and Samus so Ridley would have a slightly harder time attacking.

"_Clever…" _Ridley snarls out as he slants his eyebrows and focuses his attention on the boy, discerning his moments so quickly that it disproves Riku's prior assumptions that the intelligence of the beast had been lost with his Phazon-induced rebirth.

"_But you forget boy…You are my primary target!" _With the intensity of a ferocious beast backing Ridley's voice, the dragon suddenly kicks its feet off of the ground and lunges at Riku, catching the boy off-guard as with perilous speed combined with his deadly size Ridley left little room for the teenage Overlord to dodge his lunge save for the underside, which after recovering from his brief surprise the boy takes swift advantage of by going into his own Morph Ball form and rolling underneath Ridley as he descends from the sky.

The draconic beast, upon realizing his prey has fled, pins his claws towards the ground to stop himself from going right off the edge of the platform. But with a glare behind his body, Ridley notices the rolling boy and as he unfurls from the Morph Ball state the beast swings his long, strong, lithe tail to the right to hit Riku in the side of his armor and knock him straight towards the acid rain before either he or Samus has a chance to react to the attack. The boy is thrown onto the chest plate of his armor, the backside of his helmet being struck by a few drops of rain that melt into the tough metal composing his armor like it was merely paper.

But the boy wasn't dazed enough to succumb to the rain for long, and he swiftly swung his arms along the ground to push himself away from the rain. He then goes into his Morph Ball state and quickly unfurls to position himself upright as Ridley turns himself around and faces Samus under the assumption that Riku is still under the acid rain. Opening his mouth, Ridley fires out a massive line of plasma and fire that rises up and burns across the ground as he raises his head, while at the same time pulling his tail above his body and firing from the sharp tip and equally sized blast of Phazon at the spot that he predicts Samus will dodge to.

The hunter somersaults diagonally to the right, then quickly kicks off to the left after the breath attack has disappeared to dodge the tail beam, landing on the ground kneeled down and firing a quick missile into Ridley's open mouth after locking on to it with her visor. The explosion strikes the beast and briefly makes him glow yellow to show vulnerability, and Ridley is forced to stand up as his body lurches back from the pain inside of his mouth. The plates on his chest loosen up, revealing a damaged wound underneath for a couple seconds before the plates stick back into place.

While Ridley screeches from the pain, Riku takes the hint from the loose plates and quickly extends his left hand out ready to use his Grapple Beam, only for Samus to launch hers before him after she stood up straight. After the beam has latched itself to the center of both plates the hunter pulls hard with her left arm and both plates are swung open, giving Riku a prime chance to charge up his Plasma Beam energy and fire a very heated shot at Ridley's wounded chest. The beam strikes and inflames the wound, but by this point the beast has recovered from the attack to his mouth and quickly swings his claws at the flames on his wound to put them out before slamming his chest plates shut and falling onto all fours.

"_Perhaps its time to change the field of battle…" _Ridley notes with annoyance in his tone of voice as he refers to how outnumbered he currently is. Charging forward and leaping off the ground, the Phazon-empowered dragon flies outside of the Proving Grounds with a spread of his mighty wings and begins to take flight outside, swerving around to the center of the battlefield before he turns to face the heroes and positions his body upright. This move of his cuts the heroes off from getting in close, and also stops them from using missiles and Plasma Beam shots to attack him.

As Ridley's gargantuan wings flap slowly and his eyes glow beyond the dampened atmosphere, Riku takes a couple cautious steps back and says to Samus "You know, you wouldn't think a monster like him would be capable of being cunning…" Though he was complimenting Ridley's actions just now, the teenage Overlord was also expressing a bit of concern towards the fact that both his and Samus' arsenals have become more limited in the process.

"Its just one of the many reasons Ridley continues to be a thorn in my side…" Samus says with a bit of unease in her voice as she holds her arm cannon up beside her helmet and concentrates on the situation in hopes of figuring a way around the dragon's change in location.

But while she thinks up a plan, Ridley wastes no time in using the freedom of this open space to lift his body up and point his tail at the right side of the Proving Grounds, summoning forth a laser of Phazon that he sweeps along the area with a wide glide of his tail. Catching the attack before it starts up, Samus quickly yells out "Move out of the way!" before leaping into the air to just barely dodge the brunt of the attack. Riku leaps as well, but he has to activate his thrusters to keep himself out of the range of the attack since he can't jump nearly as high as Samus.

Once the hunter is on the ground and Ridley's tail has retracted for the time being, Samus says to the boy "I have a plan of attack here" As the draconic creature comes back into view and opens his mouth to launch another barrage of fireballs at the heroes.

Samus shoots at the fireballs with her Power Beam to destroy them while Riku runs back and forth to get out of the way. While dealing with Ridley's barrage of attacks, the boy asks the hunter "What do you have in mind?"

"Your Dark and Light beam shots won't be affected by the rain." Samus begins her explanation, only to be disrupted by Ridley trying his tail laser attack again, forcing her and Riku to leap to avoid it, only to have to perform a second jump when the dragon sweeps above the ground a second time.

Once there is a temporary reprieve in attacks, the hunter says to the teenage Overlord "If you can get off a charge shot into his mouth, then I can hit him with a Super Missile, since the strength and speed of it is powerful enough to move through the acid rain before it melts apart."

"Sounds like a good plan." The boy agrees as he swings his arm cannon beside his body and shifts the element from fire to darkness. Tilting his head to the right, Riku goes on to point out "But how are we going to get him to open his mouth long enough for me to get a decent shot off? The Dark beam isn't necessarily the fastest of beams."

Samus' visor glows as she looks towards Ridley, her eyes firmly glaring at his darkened figure as she confidently says to the boy "I got a plan in mind…You'll know when to take the shot, but don't build up a charge until its time."

Aiming her arm cannon at the draconic figure, the hunter looks locks-on to his right wing and charges up her Power Beam, with multiple other reticules appearing across the membranes moments later. _"You can't hit me from there, hunter." _Ridley says, calling attention to Samus' plan of attack with a hint of smugness in his voice.

Samus arches her eyebrows and as the charge from her arm cannon nears its end Ridley's eyes widen and he recalls the confidence the hunter always has on her with every subsequent encounter they've had, and realizes that her bluff is not what he thinks it will be. Opening his mouth, the draconic creature watches as the hunter launches four missiles at his wings with all of them flying out through the acid rain for a few seconds, but while they begin to disintegrate Ridley has a brief panic attack and launches a series of fireballs to deal with the missiles.

Riku's eyes widen as Samus' missiles are fired and he charges his Dark beam up in his cannon, firing it off a fully powered shot right as the explosions go off in the midst of the acid rain. Before Ridley can close his mouth he eats a crystallized blast of dark energy, which causes his body to flash yellow again just moments before he falls down onto the acid rain covered half of the Proving Grounds, his plates wiggling loose once more as he tries to stagger back onto his feet to recover from that hard hitting attack.

As Ridley rises off the ground Samus launches her Grapple Beam at his chest plates once more and pulls them right off, giving Riku the perfect chance to charge up another Dark Beam and fire it straight into the damaged wound pulsating on Omega Ridley's chest. The explosion of crystallized darkness not only greatly damages the draconic commander but also blows apart his chest plates from the rest of his body. Once Ridley has become fully erect in his body posture, he limbers back in pain for a few seconds before quickly drawing on the Phazon reserves in his body to create a stronger plating on his weak spot that cannot be torn apart via the Grapple Beam.

Combining this armor plating with the acid rain makes it so even if the two heroes can manage to hit his mouth, they won't be able to get behind his plating in order to strike his weakened core. "Well, that's not good…" Riku is quick to note as he lowers his arm cannon and lightly grits his teeth.

"Samus, I'm going to have to go into Hyper Mode soon, I feel." The boy turns his head towards the hunter as he says this, and Samus in turn glances at him and asks "Are you sure you should do that?"

"Yeah, it shouldn't hurt me too much to go again…As strange as it sounds, I felt renewed after I got corrupted further just now. Don't worry, I have a plan to deal with Ridley's armored plating, but I need you to distract him for just a few seconds while I get the timing of it down in my head." Riku, after suggesting a plan of attack towards Samus, closes his eyelids and concentrates on the Phazon spores to enter Hyper Mode, shifting the beam functionality in his arm cannon from Dark to Light as he holds his arms in front of his body and tries to get a feel on Ridley's location via his newfound ability to sense Phazon.

Meanwhile, the draconic commander switches tactics slightly and extends a blade of Phazon from the back of his right claw, swinging it across the sky to send a wave of Phazon towards the teenage Overlord while he notices his stationary position. With his ability to detect the corrosive material, Riku calmly leaps to the right to dodge the attack, only for Ridley to quickly lower his head and open his mouth to launch a series of miniature, flame surrounded bombs at the boy. Samus steps in at this point and quickly fires one Power Beam shot at each bomb in this wide spread to destroy them before any of them get a chance to touch the ground.

The hunter then charge up a Power Beam shot and launches a Super Ice Missile at Ridley merely to distract the dragon, who is forced to fly up out of sight as the missile proves to have enough strength behind it to pass through the acid rain. Before he fully descends though, the draconic commander uses his tail to create another Phazon laser, this time sweeping it back and forth blindly along the Proving Grounds to try and take the boy down. But just like before Riku is able to sense the laser's guided movements and jumps accordingly over each sweep that comes his way, ducking once near the end while Samus curls into her Morph Ball form and moves forward a few feet to get out of the way.

When the attack subsides, Riku realizes that as Ridley slowly descends with a couple flaps of his wings that now would the best time to strike back, and upon opening his eyelids and raising his arm cannon the boy fires two Phazon empowered Light Beam shots at the center of the draconic creature's wings. The heat of the Hyper Mode empowered light sets fire to the wings' membranes, and because the fire is born of Phazon it cannot be doused by the rain. Ridley actually panics for a moment as he desperately flaps his wings to put out the flames, only for Riku to take advantage of his distracted mind to charge up a Light Beam shot.

He holds his arm cannon above his head for three brief seconds as the charge occurs, thrusting the weapon in front of his body a split moment later and firing a large glowing orb of Light empowered Phazon straight towards Ridley's chest. The attack comes out in a flash, blinding the dragon temporarily as the orb streaks through the sky and bypasses his chest plate entirely, binding itself to the wound in Ridley's body and exploding in a searing burst of light that the beast cannot do anything about. The wound explodes, splattering Phazon blood and viscera inside the enclosed confines of his chest plate.

This combined with the fact that the membranes of his wings are slowly being burned apart, Ridley is soon unable to maintain flight in mid-air and begins to descend against his will, though the roaring beast tries in futility to stay on the field of battle by throwing his claws against the edge of the arena, only for his grip to fail as the weight of his body drags him down into the depths of the Pirate Homeworld, where an explosion of raw Phazon thrusts itself into the sky, carrying with it a sign of relief for Samus Aran, because for the time being Ridley was gone from her life.

The hunter lets out a light sigh, but as Riku exits Hyper Mode he doesn't feel less uneasy about the situation. With a turn of his head to look behind himself, the boy notices that the blast doors still haven't come down despite both the apparition and Ridley having been defeated. After a second of pause, the boy's eyebrows lift up and a jolt pierces itself through his mind. Gaining a serious expression, the boy quickly states to the hunter "Ridley isn't done for quite yet…"

And just as he says that, an angered roar echoes across the atmosphere of the Pirate Homeworld, and as Samus lifts up her arm cannon Ridley rises out of the depths of the planet with his appearance having changed greatly. His body has discarded all of the Phazon-empowered armor and replaced it with a sleek metal coat that looked very organic in design. His wings have regenerated and gained a dark yellow shade, and his eyes have changed to a similar shade. The core in his chest has grown back, but it now looked a lot more durable than it did the last time around. With flames burning in the core of his mouth, Ridley stated to the two heroes in a less unhinged manner _"You shall not be rid of me that easily. I will take both of your lives before this day is through!" _

_Next Time: Terror of the Skies_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Ridley II: Pinnacle of Rebirth**

Meta Ridley opens the second phase of battle off with a gigantic fireball from the mouth that impacts the ground and creates a powerful shockwave that the two heroes are forced to leap over instantly, though the heat scorches the ground as it travels around. Ridley follows up on this attack by landing and swinging his long tail around to hit Riku with enough force that he is knocked into Samus, taking them both out of the sky and throwing them onto the ground as Ridley quickly straightens himself out and flies back up into the sky.

The beast, despite losing the plating on his chest, has gained a stronger core in the process, but feels that he shouldn't run the risk of being in range of the heroes' arsenal. With a couple flaps of his wings Ridley backs away from the Proving Grounds and begins to circle clockwise around the outside, leaving the sight of the heroes as they push themselves off of the ground and Samus quickly tries to lock on to Ridley's chest before he gets out of sight, only to feel a bit of frustration when she fails.

With Ridley out of range of their voice for the time being, Samus says to the boy "You shouldn't have to use Hyper Mode from here on out. We can damage Ridley with just our beam energy this time. He is definitely vulnerable to Super Missiles now, and I can hit him with them so long as his core is in range of my visor's scanning capabilities."

Riku nods his head in agreement of Samus' plans, but before the draconic commander in question sweeps back in front of the Proving Grounds he lets out an echoing roar. This was an alert to the rest of his Space Pirates comrades for some assistance, and much to the surprise of both heroes two turrets suddenly sprung up on the buildings in the distance. Ridley was nowhere to be found, but his lack of presence provided the only bit of relief to the two of them as they cocked their arm cannon and prepared to fire upon the turrets.

"Yeah, regular Light Beam shots aren't going to reach those turrets. Will it bother you if I enter Hyper Mode again to take down one turret while you handle the other?" Riku asks the hunter even though he could somewhat predict her answer.

A moment of hesitation preludes Samus' nod, and with intense focus on the Phazon spores the teenage Overlord enters Hyper Mode for the second time during this single battle. The turrets then taking fire upon the Proving Grounds in the form of piercing plasma bolts much like the one's that were aimed at Samus' ship when the first descended onto the planet. Samus somersaults to the right while charging her arm cannon up, the intensity of the situation quickening her charge to the point that once she lands and waits for the shockwave from the laser to subside before she launches a Super Missile through the air at the rightmost turret.

Though there is a longer distance between herself and the turret compared to when she was combating Ridley's last form, the missile managed to make it through the acid rain before it melted apart and blew up in a collision of pure ice that temporarily freezes up the barrel. Riku does not have such a luxury, but manages to dodge his laser with a leap to the side and charges up his arm cannon at the same time. A powerful blast of light makes its way towards the turret, but with how slow it moves it gives the barrel enough time to recharge and fire a second shot that pierces through the teenage Overlord's attack and forces him to leap back to his original spot to avoid being struck by the counterattack.

There are two black marks on the ground from that single turret along with a small impact area in the center of them, and Riku starts assuming that if the lasers hit the Proving Grounds enough times the entire floor would collapse and throw both himself and Samus into an unknown area. This observation made Riku desire to see the end of these turrets quickly, and he began charging up another Light Beam shot while Hyper Mode was still active. This time he would wait until the exact second for the turret to fire before launching his attack at the base of the turret to hopefully disable its hold on the building and cause it to collapse.

When the shot is fired Riku widens his eyes and leaps to the left, firing a shot simultaneously that grazes the edge of the plasma bolt as it travels across the air, finally culminating in it striking the base of the turret just as planned and burning through it as only the heat of pure raw light could do. The lopsided tower falls to the left of where it stands from Riku's point of view as he exits Hyper Mode, while the turret Samus froze over blows up when the Space Pirate inside prematurely tries to fire another shot before the acid rain had fully dealt with the ice frozen outside the barrel.

With both burning towers falling to their demises along with the helpless Space Pirates that commanded them, Ridley comes back into view around the left of the Proving Grounds and quickly fires two fireballs at the towers to destroy them in order to not prolong the deaths of his comrades. The beast then swung his body sideways and held his arms out to glide along the air while pointing his mouth at the heroes, firing a laser of heated energy that burns across the sky and forces both Riku and Samus to curl into their Morph Ball states to avoid having their heads scorched off.

The hunter is the first to drop her Morph Ball form and wastes no time using her visor to lock-on to Ridley's core while charging her Power Beam. But the very second that Samus fires her shot the lock-on is disrupted by the draconic commander flipping himself straight and using a mighty flap of his wings to blow the Super Missile off-course towards the ground, which in turn causes the lip of an icy explosion to be seen from the edge of the Proving Grounds. Scoffing at her inaccurate attack, Samus holds her arm cannon in front of her chest and takes a rather stiff pose as she says to Riku the moment he unfurls from his Morph Ball state "Give me a second to refill my missiles, I've run out…"

Three glowing orange rings appear around Samus' arm cannon as she stands in place and concentrates, forcing Riku to take up the defensive line for her as Ridley launches from his back another series of bombs much like the ones he sent out in his previous form. The teenage Overlord used the swift speed and range of his Light Beam to take down each bomb as they descended save for one, which was about to slip by and hit the concentrating Samus before the boy wasted no time in leaping from where he stood to take the attack for her.

This shocked the hunter the very moment her missiles were refilled, but while the explosion that covered Riku's body was big his armor was still functioning properly thanks to the shielding surrounding it. "Ugh…Down to 62%…This shielding isn't very durable, but it's the only thing keeping me from getting hurt by more lethal blows." Riku comments as he checks the numbers on his visors and lets out a relieved sigh over the fact that Samus is ok behind him.

"Might be a bit childish of me to say, but I'm going to tag out for a moment so you can freely fire at Ridley." Riku smiles and proceeds to back flip over Samus' body, giving the hunter a chance to focus on the battle once more as Ridley pauses on the right side of the arena and flattens his body out, extending his wings like sharpened swords and quickly thrusting himself forward in an attempted to sweep both heroes off with either the edge of his wings or the breeze that will come afterwards. The sharp point at the end of the left wing scratches the southern wall of the Proving Grounds, but the rest of the wind itself does nothing as Samus jumps forward and enters her Screw Attack to completely ignore the wind for a couple leaps before landing on the ground just inches away from the acid rain.

Ridley ascends and spins around to face the arena, leaving his chest entirely vulnerable as Samus faces him with visor locked onto the weak point and arm cannon already charged up to full power. With a single Super Ice Missile that flies through the air Ridley is struck with a powerful icy chill in his core that counteracts against the heat built up inside and for a moment causes him to cough up cold steam in pain before the acid rain melts off his frozen core. _"Hunter…You will not get away with such tric-"_

Before Ridley can make it through his snarling threat, he is quickly struck in the chest with a Plasma Beam shot, which greatly enflames the core because of the sharp change from cold to hot. The metallic beast is forced to swing his claws at the core to put the fire out, all the while roaring in pain as Samus turns her head to the left a bit and sees that Riku had shot a charged Plasma Beam from his smoking double-barreled arm cannon. The boy gives the hunter a brief grin, but is forced back into the heat of battle as Ridley recovers from his attack and spreads both arms and wings out in a ferocious manner as his own mouth becomes inflamed by his own will.

From his agape jaw the metallic commander launches another fireball similar to the one he used to initiate the second phase of battle, but this time unleashed a salvo of three in a row to force the heroes to be quick on their toes in order to avoid all three shockwaves that emerge in different points of the battleground. Riku uses his thrusters, but Samus somersaults back and forth between each shockwave while keeping her aim locked onto Ridley's chest. Each leap she performs gives her a fully charged Power Beam that she uses to try and hit the draconic commander with a Super Missile each time she lands.

The first two miss their marks thanks to Ridley's awareness allowing him to swerve away from them by going left and right, but the last one connects straight into the chest simply because he had nowhere left to run. Once again the beast's chest is frozen, and once he is on the ground Riku fires yet another Plasma Beam to disrupt Ridley's core with inflammation. This time around though the inflammation spreads out to the membranes in his wings, causing the delicate fibers to start burning apart bit by bit and in turn causing the draconic commander to reluctantly take refuge on land before he falls into the depths of the Pirate Homeworld once again.

"_Curse you both for your trickery…" _Ridley scowls to the two heroes as he falls onto all four claws and retracts his metallic, boney wings into his backside as his mouth releases flames between the teeth.

After a slight roar the draconic commander opens his mouth fully and lets out a stream of flames as he swings his head from left and right in an attempt to incinerate the heroes, only for both of them to swiftly leap out of the way. But this was all planned by Ridley, and after lifting his body up and closing his mouth with his right claw raised the beast charges forward with speed deceptive of his size and grabs Riku from the air, holding him up with his eyes staring through his visor intensely as his grip tightens immensely and applies pressure onto the shield protecting the boy's armor.

Riku sees the numbers declining on his shield slowly, the number shooting straight from 54% to 32% as Ridley turns around and slams his body against the nearby walling, grinding the boy across for a few feet before the momentum of his arm forced him to pull away from the wall. Before the draconic commander can perform this move again, Samus fires a Super Missile upon Ridley's back to distract him with an icy explosion. The dragon glances over his left shoulder and finds himself feeling a bit conflicted on his priorities. He didn't feel as addicted to Phazon now as he did before, but the boy did cross his path. At the same time though, he has a longer grudge against the hunter and knew that she was more of a threat in the long run then this child.

Dropping the boy immediately in front of his body, Ridley turns around and opens his mouth, slamming all four claws against the ground like the beast he is and sending out a flamethrower towards Samus that forces her once more to somersault out of the way, though continuous movements are required until Ridley is unable to turn his head any further to attack her. But with Ridley distracted by the hunter, Riku is able to run forward and kick into a slide along the ground, his arm cannon pointed upwards as he charges his Plasma Beam and unleashes a precise, searing blaze into the draconic commander's core.

This blaze ignites Ridley's entire body length, forcing him to run towards the acid rain frantically to put himself out, all the while Riku kicks himself onto his feet with the help of his thrusters and says to Ridley "Don't ignore your opponents no matter how weak they are, Ridley."

The taunt of the teenage Overlord is met with a piercing, rabid glare by Ridley as the flames are washed off and turns himself around to face the boy, raising his body up into the air and saying in a fierce tone of voice as flames burn in his mouth _"Weak is the only word that can describe you child! I don't care how much Phazon you have flowing through your veins, you are just another bit of prey for me to con-" _

Ridley doesn't get to finish his sentence, for he is struck in the chest by another Super Missile from Samus, this one managing to hit him with enough concussive force that the draconic commander is pushed back to the edge of the Proving Grounds, and as he is buffeted by the cold in his chest Ridley tumbles backwards off the edge of the arena. With his wings in their boney state, there was no way for him to escape his descent into the depths of the Pirate Homeworld. Once more Phazon erupts from where Ridley descents, but this time Samus knew that this would be the last she would see of the draconic commander for now.

Lowering her arm cannon and letting out a sigh of relief, the hunter glances behind her left shoulder and notices the blast door has finally vanished, allowing both herself and Riku to leave the Pirate Homeworld now that the Phazon here had been dealt with. Hopefully for all of their efforts the Aurora Unit would be able to determine the place where Dark Samus lies, and the hunter can finally end the threat of Phazon for good.

But before even a single step could be taken, a shadowy figure rises out from the plume of Phazon that was ascending off of the Pirate Homeworld and quickly descends from the skies, breaking through the remainder of the ceiling and charging head first towards Samus with a mighty roar. With a pound of his left claw against her body, the beast breaks through the unstable flooring of the Proving Grounds, tearing apart a large chunk of metal in the process as its entire form descends into the shaft below the arena.

Riku caught a brief glimpse of the creature before it and Samus fell into the shaft, recognizing the purple and red blur as Ridley reborn into his original form in a complete defiance of all logic in the Metroid universe. But while the matter of Ridley's revival into his true state of being puzzled the boy, he was more concerned about Samus at the moment, and with a bold declaration of her name Riku dashes towards the large metallic scar in the Proving Grounds and leaped down to confront the original Ridley and rescue the hunter…

_Next Time: The Original_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Ridley Final: Origin of the Hunter**

Samus is rapidly descending through a shaft in the Pirate Homeworld, grabbing around the armor by the claws of Ridley, who has reformed in his original purple and red state after dying twice in his more superior forms. The membranes in his wings were a bit battered but still functional enough for him to keep his descent going as he tries to drag the hunter into oblivion. As the two fall, Ridley sinks into a primal rage and slams Samus against the wall, grinding her armor apart as sparks burn out from the clashing of metal.

All the while Samus struggles to take her arm cannon out and shoot Ridley in the face to break his hold on her body. The Power Beam functionality is briefly disabled as the arm cannon widens and a chill surrounds the lip. With a thrust of her arm past the tight grip of Ridley's claw the hunter fires an Ice Missile into the beast's roaring maw, creating an explosion of ice that counteracts the heat building up inside of his esophagus and causes enough pain that Ridley rips his claw away from her body and back off towards the center of the shaft.

The blast of Samus' missile combined with the sudden release of Ridley's claw pushes the hunter towards the wall, where she uses the magnetic abilities in her armor to cling against the metal surface, though the momentum of her descent didn't allow her to slow down as she grinded along the wall. The hunter kept her arm cannon pointed on ahead as Ridley recovers from the previous blow, shifting back to the Power Beam and charging up a shot that she fires upon the beast's chest to deal just a bit of damage even though he doesn't flinch from the attack.

As Ridley flaps his wings in place, he glares at the hunter and says to her in anger _"Well isn't this familiar? Once again we are both descending down a shaft towards your demise, and yet again you stand fearless against my might. Your false bravado is irritating to the end, hunter."_

"I'm not afraid of you anymore Ridley, I haven't been ever since that day on Zebes years ago. You should just give up on trying to break me, you will just continue to fail every time." Samus boasts her courage in the face of Ridley's taunts, but the draconic commander only laughs at her.

"_Oh please, hunter…You cannot ever truly overcome the crippling effects of trauma. Deep down, you are still scared of me, and your courage is as false as your strength. Nothing you have accomplished is by your own hand, you only managed to get this far past our first encounter because of those foolish birds. You are so reliant on that armor that you are nothing without it…The very moment I break the will that binds you to that armor is the moment I will be able to devour the fragile flesh underneath without hesitation!"_

"…You really don't get it, do you Ridley?" Samus calmly states after a moment of taking pause and closing her eyelids.

Opening her eyelids to glare negatively at the draconic Commander, the hunter goes on to say "I may be faking courage, but that is the only way that I can ever hope to defeat a monster like you. If I ever give in for even a second, then you'll have won, and the lives of everyone that ever sacrificed themselves so I could survive would be wasted. For my human parents and Grey Voice, I cannot ever let my guard down. If you have a problem with my courage, then you only have yourself to blame. Letting me live created your own worst nightmare."

"_Hehehe…" _Ridley callously laughs and grins, saying to the hunter in turn _"Oh, I know plenty about nightmares, hunter. Even someone like me has experienced them…After all, how many times has my body perished and been revived by now? Every time I am reborn I remember the pain of my deaths, the excruciating agony brought on by your onslaught of missiles, power beams and Phazon attacks awakening the primal fury inside of my mind every time I recall it. And yes, I am well aware that I've brought this fate upon myself, but that is the greatest thing about our struggle."_

Ridley lets out a quiet echoing roar and continues to say to Samus _"With my legion of Space Pirates, I can continue to come back to life time after time again, even if the deepest and most forbidden methods of science have to be used to bring me back. But you…I only have to kill you once, and it doesn't matter afterwards what happens to me. Prepare to perish on the world of your most hated enemy, Samus Aran!" _

Ridley thrusts his wings outward and opens his mouth, launching a fireball at Samus immediately after finishing his loud threat, only for the hunter to leap off of the wall and after a quick spin attacking herself to the wall on the right side of Ridley's body, taking out her arm cannon and launching an Ice Missile at the edge of the beast's wing. The wing is frozen over very close to the body, weighing Ridley down and forcing him farther down the shaft, much to his annoyance.

After freezing over the wing, the hunter leaps off of the wall and hovers over Ridley's body, charging up her Power Beam and launching a Super Ice Missile that impacts with the entirety of the draconic commander's body, the explosion managing to shatter the ice around the wing while simultaneously bombarding Ridley with a frigid blast that makes him cry out in pain but leaves him without any weight to prevent him from descending faster into the shaft. Naturally, Ridley quickly rises up and places himself in front of the hunter as she latches to another wall, but he quickly swings his claw out to pull her from the wall.

This time Ridley clamps the arm cannon against Samus' body to prevent her from using that against him, but fails to recall the hunter's other armor features as he leaves his mouth agape and begins to charge a massive stream of fire within. The hunter curls into her Morph Ball and slips between Ridley's claws, dropping a bomb between them to launch herself through the air over the beast's head, unfurling herself afterwards and quickly activating her magnetic grasp to pin herself against the wall, continuing her descent through his almost endless shaft as the draconic commander feels a slight sting in his claws and turns around.

Lifting his head up and roaring ferociously, Ridley rises up to pursue Samus and blocks her jump path with a spread of his wings and the girth of his body, slamming his claws beside both sides of his armor and tearing through the metal with ease as he holds his mouth agape and wastes no time in preparing a fireball in his mouth to scorch the hunter alive. Samus curls into her Morph Ball form and combines her Spider Ball with the magnetic functionality on her armor on a quick whim in order to keep rolling down the wall, charging up a Power Bomb inside of her body until its ready to explode, at which point she unleashes it upon Ridley, creating a massive explosion that tears apart bits of the draconic commander's flesh along his face and pushes him away from the wall as a gigantic hole is torn apart from it.

Samus unfurls from her Morph Ball and kicks off the wall, charging at Ridley and curling herself up into her Screw Attack form and striking the dragon with the tearing force of a gigantic saw blade, though only a light scar is formed in Ridley's chest thanks to his massive durability. The hunter is knocked back towards the wall, where she presses her legs against the wall to continue her descent down the shaft. Ridley recovers from the shock of the damage he has received, and as he sees a bit of green blood oozing from the scar he stares at Samus with bloody-eyed fury and lets out a gigantic echoing roar that rebounds off of the entire shaft.

"_I have had it with your existence, Samus Aran! ITS TIME FOR YOU TO DIE!" _In a burst of raw anger, an explosion of pure energy occurs around Ridley's body, his body becoming a deathly pure black as his red wings grow darker in shade and his eyes glow with the intensity of a sun.

The scar on Ridley's chest is healed up almost instantly, the durability on the beast's body increasing tenfold in the process as Samus' scan visor has a difficult time ascertaining the strength granted to the draconic commander in this new form. The word "ERROR!" is repeated multiple times across Samus' visor in red, giving her no choice but to shut it down and use her own instincts to combat the beast.

Ridley fires a rapid assault of fireballs aimed at where Samus was currently at, not where she was going to end up descending towards, each blast of fire brightly lighting the sky above the hunter in second long intervals as she cocks her arm cannon in front of her body and fires an Ice Missile into Ridley's open mouth. The beast doesn't even flinch in the face of the icy explosion, and with a brief moment of intelligence slipping out Ridley lowers his mouth and launches a massive fireball below Samus' descent.

The fireball explodes and the ensuing explosion manages to connect with the hunter's body, striking the shields of her armor with more power than anything else Ridley has tossed out beforehand, leaving her shielding at about 45% power after a sharp drop from 86%. One more well-aimed shot would prove to be the end of her protection, and Samus knew all too well the consequences of being hit by any attack beyond the loss of her shielding. Leaping from the wall, the hunter tries to outmaneuver Ridley by constantly going from wall to wall along the shaft, using her agility to keep the draconic commander off of his line of sight until she can think of a way to overcome his new durability.

Ridley constantly fires out fireballs to try and attack Samus before she leaves his line of sight time after time again, but he only manages to keep damaging the walls of the shaft instead of doing any permanent damage to his prey. It is during this period of attacks that the hunter recognizes how to remove the thick black coat that kept Ridley's durability at its maximum capacity. _"The coating was brought on by rage, possibly due to a survival instinct within his species that didn't truly have any reason to exist until this encounter…The only way to disable it would be to deal a concussive blow to Ridey's head and break his concentration."_

Cracking her arm cannon open and charging up a Power Beam inside, Samus continues to leap around while gathering energy within, looking towards Ridley's head as the Super Missile is just inches away from being fired. The hunter lands behind the draconic commander's body and fires before he gets a chance to observe her attack, hitting the beast square in the back of the head with a powerful frigid explosion that does exactly what Samus theorized it would do and breaks Ridley's concentration, shattering his black coating almost instantly.

Ridley's mind is left in a brutal daze that forces him to grasp his head with his right claw as headaches pound away at his brain, his vision blurring as his wings begin to slow down. His descents becomes a lot more rapid as the girth of his body drags him further down the shaft. But as he falls, he only has to glance back at Samus and let out a single, chilling laugh before his body disappears from sight. The draconic commander had all the reason to laugh, for what he said earlier still holds true now. All it would take is for Samus to die once, and Ridley would be happy even if he died in the process.

There was no way for the hunter to work against the momentum of her descent by herself, and it could only be assumed that the seething core of the planet awaited Samus at the very bottom of the shaft. The Space Pirates likely had a means of extracting Ridley from the shaft before he makes it to the core, but the hunter wouldn't be get such a luxury. Scoffing at her fate for a moment, and then sadly gazing off to the right the hunter recalls her past and knows that the inevitability of her demise would soon be upon her.

However, as the glow of the core became ever brighter, a powerful frost is thrown in front of Samus' body, causing her to shift her eyes up and see a ton of ice flying towards the area below the feet of her armor. In a matter of seconds a thick ledge of ice is created below Samus, allowing her to land on the ground without the combination of momentum and weight breaking through the ice. The hunter's landing is met with a deep shock through her legs, but otherwise she is completely unharmed from the landing.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of ice and a bit of nostalgia coming in the form of her remembering the last time she was saved in this type of scenario, the hunter looks up and sees Riku descending from above, and because of the intensity of the battle against Ridley she had actually almost forgotten about him. The boy appears to have been in Hyper Mode, as evidenced by the blue glow surrounding his body, but strangely his arm cannon was covered in a slight frost. The boy lands on the ice beside the hunter and lets out a light sigh of relief before suddenly lunging forward and wrapping his arms around Samus' stomach, kneeling down and saying in a deeply merry tone of voice "Oh thank god I managed to pull that off…I don't know what I would have done if I didn't save your life Samus…"

The hunter can only embarrassingly murmur at Riku's actions, but the boy gets the hint rather quickly and pulls himself away out of an equal amount of embarrassment. Nervously rubbing the back of his helmet as he stands back up, the teenage Overlord laughs and says to Samus "Sorry for not assisting you against Ridley…I was more worried about finding us a way back out of the shaft once you were done, and the situation gave me so much stress that I forgot that I had regained my ice powers yet hadn't actually utilized them in a while. With a little boost from Hyper Mode, I figured out how to create a platform strong enough to support an impact from the weight of your armor."

After passing off his feat as though it was no big deal, Riku gazes over the icy ledge and says in a nonchalant tone of voice "Soooo, I guess Ridley is done with for now?"

Samus, blinking a few times at the boy's sudden shifts in behavior, stoically responds to his inquiry with "Yeah…While I'm disappointed by the fact that I couldn't truly finish him off this time, he isn't the main threat at the moment. We need to get back to the gunship and see if the Aurora Unit has found Dark Samus' location. Do you think you'll be able to take us back to the top of the shaft?"

Riku brightly nods his head towards Samus' request, and with a lift of his right arm the icy ledge breaks apart from the wall and steadily rises back up towards the top. It takes a good twenty minutes of constant lifting before the heroes make it to the top. All the while not a single word is shared between them both, though its most the hunter's awkwardness towards the boy's hug that prevents her from saying anything at first. Once they make it to the door so they can quickly escape the acid rain, Samus glances to the right past her shoulder and says to the boy "…I greatly appreciate all that you've done for me Riku. You may not believe that you deserve to be called a hero, but that doesn't mean that you don't have the qualities of one inside of you…"

Riku is taken aback by Samus' compliment as the two of them head for the tram, saying in a light stutter "Ummm…T-Thank you for that, Samus." There was no need to say anything more than that, but Riku and Samus both had smiles on their faces as they took the tram back to the Landing Site Alpha. The two heroes got back into the gunship in record time, but before they took off Samus was quickly greeted by the hologram of the Aurora Unit floating before her window.

Taking a seat in the cockpit, Samus listened in as the Aurora Unit began to explain in detail _"Congratulations Samus. All detected planets have been completely purged of Phazon, and we have finally found out where Dark Samus is hiding…We can only express a great deal of urgency though on dealing with her now. We are sending the coordinates to your galactic map now." _

Signing off for just a brief moment, the Aurora Unit forces Samus' map of the galaxy to appear as a glowing hologram of Phaaze that has both red and blue Phazon merged together materializes into view. However, the hunter's eyes quickly widen as she notices that there is a path that Phaaze is traveling along, and the most important part about this was that Phaaze was on a direct course towards her Earth, the home place of the Galactic Federation Headquarters itself. "…What is Dark Samus planning?" Samus questions.

Riku is actually taken aback by this bit of news, for even though this wasn't his Earth he still felt a bit of inner anguish and anger building up inside of him over the possibility of the planet being corrupted by Dark Samus. The Aurora Unit pops back into view to replace the map, saying coldly towards both heroes _"We fear that Dark Samus may have set up the other infected planets as a means of distracting you as it rebuilt Phaaze in secret. As for why its launching an assault on us specifically, we have not determined…But it is imperative that you intercept Phaaze and take out your dark counterpart before its too late. Be careful Samus, and good luck." _

The Aurora Unit signs off for what may be the last time during this mission, and with a light sigh Samus slams her right hand against the arm of her chair and says with her teeth grit "Dark Samus…Just what are you doing? Is your aim to simply just corrupt everything without cause?"

"That can't be it." Riku interjects, causing the hunter to turn around in her seat and look at him as he folds his arms in front of his chest and lowers his head while deep in thought.

"So far everything we've seen doesn't add up right. Why would Phazon restore some things yet corrode others? Why did Dark Samus bother with all of these apparitions? And what was up with the phantom that looked like you at different points of your career? None of it is coherent, which means that we can't ever hope to figure out Dark Samus' motives on our own. We can't linger on this. Every second we spend on this matter allows Phaaze to get closer to Earth. Even if its not my Earth, I'm not going to let a maniac like Dark Samus touch it with that gruesome Phazon of hers. So what do you say Samus, how about you fire up the ship's thrusters and take us to confront that monster?"

Riku's bravado quells Samus' anger and gets her to nod in agreement. With a turn back towards the controls, the hunter activates her gunship and takes off from the Pirate Homeworld, making her way out of the tunnels and trenches and flying off at high speeds to avoid the turrets. After piercing through the atmosphere, the hunter wastes no time in setting the coordinates to intercept Phaaze after a hyperspace jump, leaving behind the desolate Pirate Homeworld in the wake of her ship…

_Next Time: Dark Samus No More_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: The Machinations of Dark Samus**

The gunship shunts itself out of the hyperspace warp, traveling through the depths of space for what would be the last time this mission as it makes its way to designated coordinates that lie on the path between the reborn Phaaze and the planet Earth. Riku keeps a tight grip on the machinery inside of the ship as Samus swerves it via a U-Turn in order to face the glowing planetoid as it approaches from beyond the gaze of the glowing stars. It was small from afar for the moment, but rapidly grew in size as it went closer. Phaaze looked like a living sun, with pulsating waves of corruption spreading out from the surface like roots until they collapsed back down. The planet was composed of a mixture of red and blue Phazon, though all of the blue was concentrated into a single scar that was visible directly in front of the window of Samus' ship.

"…Dark Samus is inviting us to face her on the blue part of Phaaze. She knows it's the only one I can even hope to touch with my Phazon immunity." Samus makes note of the strangeness of that single scar and alerts the boy towards the villain's possible motives with it.

"Do you know how much time we have until Phaaze reaches Earth?" Riku asks, his fingers twitching nervously towards the encroaching final battle as he tries not to crush the machinery as he grips the lip of it tighter.

Samus lets out a light sigh due to not wanting to add any further stress upon her mind before the battle, but nonetheless replies to Riku's question with "We have 15 minutes to infiltrate Phaaze and take down Dark Samus before the planetoid gets in contact with Earth. If it so much as touches it, we will have failed."

"Then we are wasting time here…" Riku was rather blunt in his tone, but after a moment thought about the situation they were in and asked in an apologetic voice "Though I suppose there is a reason for that, right?"

"Yes. I'm trying to find a stable enough entry point to land onto the planetoid since the autopilot option will no longer be a viable." Samus says as she taps a button on the arm of her chair and transfers some information to the front of her helmet's visor. With this, she would be able to guide the gunship onto Phaaze safely.

Thus, with a sharp activation of the thrusters on the back of the ship, Samus guides it like a bullet towards the approaching Phaaze, aiming for the bottom tip of the blue scar as she gets closer and the gravitational pull of the planet tries to force them in at a much faster pace. As they descend into the planet, Riku notices something weird about the shape of the scar. For some curious reason, it looked like a distorted version of the lightning bolt-like mark on Samus' Screw Attack power-up. The boy slanted his eyebrows and began to think about the meaning behind the shape, and all of theories did not make him feel the slightest bit comfortable.

Samus stabilizes the speed of her ship for the final phase of the descent into Phaaze, aiming the nose towards the only plateau of solid rock on quite possibly the entire planetoid. With a bit of a lift on her ship to keep the bottom hovering above the planet's surface, Samus switches the wings to legs and uses the bottom thrusters to aid in the landing on this desolate planetoid. It was a surprisingly soft landing, all things considered, but this didn't help Samus' unease. Knowing what was like up ahead, the hunter whispered out "That takes care of the only easy part…" and shuts off the controls on her ship for the time being with a few button presses.

The hunter wastes no time in getting out of her seat and facing Riku, saying in a serious tone of voice "Look, I know we are running low on time here, but there's just one thing I want to warn you about before we exit the ship."

"You mean the fact that I'm going to be forced into a permanent state of Hyper Mode once I step foot on the surface?" Riku intercepts the advice that Samus was planning to give with a somewhat worried tone of voice and his arms folded in front of his chest. The hunter responds with a swift stutter before saying to him "Y-Yes, that's right."

The boy shrugs his shoulders without a care in the world and says to Samus "That's fine, honestly. I won't have to worry about draining my own life energy to activate it anymore, and it'll be satisfying to use it against Dark Samus after all the trouble it has caused for the two of us."

"…Fair enough." Samus appeared to have some type of concern on her mind after Riku said that, but kept those thoughts withdrawn and merely nodded her head to show that there was nothing else left for them to discuss at the moment.

The two heroes make their way for the back of the lift and descend upon Phaaze, with Samus taking the lead. As the hunter makes it past the bottom of the nose of her ship, Riku takes the first step onto the planetoid after taking a brave, deep breath and is immediately greeted by the appearance of Dark Samus in his head, who floats behind his body in a massive spectral form and says with her hands floating beside both sides of his figure _"Welcome to my world, prisoner of corruption…" _

As expected, Riku begins to react negatively to the massive amounts of Phazon spread across this planetoid. He grimaces in pain and falls to his knees, slamming his right fist down against the ground as he is shunted right into Hyper Mode with roots of pure Phazon growing out through cracks in his armor as the corrosive material is forced into his body by Dark Samus' will, the spore buried deep within his organs growing to an even greater size to further its grasp on his body and keep him in this dangerous Hyper Mode. Riku grunts in pain, his body excreting a thick liquid that no longer looked like sweat from his pores as Dark Samus leaves him with one final sentence _"I await your surrender, child…" _before departing from his mind.

"Not…Going to happen!" Riku pounds the ground with his right fist one time, and immediately the Phazon roots retract into his body. They were suppressed by his mental strength, but this did little to help the state of his Hyper Mode. He was still permanently locked into it, his body glowing an unnatural light-blue that blends into the atmosphere of the planet as he lifts himself up and looks ahead at Samus, who had her left hand held out as though ready to voice her concern, only to draw the arm back and look diagonally at the ground in an awkward fashion.

Riku smiles behind his visor and says in a nonchalant fashion "Well, I guess now we have two timers to deal with. One to stop Dark Samus from colliding Phaaze with Earth, and another for my own life."

The second noted time limit was in regards to his descent into a permanent Hyper Mode. He had stopped the full corruption for now, but Riku could still feel Phazon slowly creeping into his body with each passing second. After a certain period of time, the boy would become a pawn of Dark Samus without being able to do anything to stop her.

The hunter sharply turns her head to face Riku and says in a firm voice "Don't even joke about something like that!" Showing a clear amount of disappointment towards him for that remark. The teenage Overlord blinks twice, realizing the consequences of his actions immediately and saying in an echoing, apologetic voice "Sorry Samus…I was just trying to make light of the situation to cut down on the stress. Guess there's just no way of doing that though when you're just as worried as I am."

Samus accepts Riku's empathetic reply with a pause and a gentle, surprising nod of her head, and goes on to say "Do you want to take the forefront Riku? You'll have an easier time dealing with any frontal ambushes by the populace."

"I wouldn't really worry about that." Riku points out quickly, much to Samus' initial surprise.

Turning around and making their way down the rocky steps towards the neon blue hallway that lies on ahead so as to not waste time as they are conversing. With a glance over her right shoulder, the hunter asks Riku "How do you know that we will be safe here?"

"Call it strange, but these later phases of corruption have left me with the ability to detect traces of Phazon…Its how I was able to notice that Ridley hadn't died the first time around." Riku taps the side of his helmet while making this explanation, pointing in particular towards his eyes as he does so.

Samus raises an eyebrows towards this bit of news as the two of them begin to traverse the enclosed hallway that appears to have a floor resembling the membrane of a muscle. With the stretch of Phazon created land now being identified as a tunnel, the hunter says to the boy "I never had those abilities when I was corrupted by Phazon."

Riku offers his own explanation on the matter, saying with a sway of his right arm in front of his body "In a way, Phazon could be perceived as an element despite its corrosive nature. Since Phazon has become such a big part of my body along with the fact that I'm an Elemental Overlord, I may be able to do things with Phazon that most others couldn't, like sense quantities of it in my surroundings. That's why we are completely safe traversing this tunnel, because there isn't a single enemy composed of Phazon awaiting us besides Dark Samus at the very end."

"…Doesn't that seem rather odd to you?" Samus remarks after hearing that last bit of information. "Why would Phaaze be vacant of life besides Dark Samus and ourselves?"

"It doesn't seem to contradict anything else it has done so far, but at the same time I suppose it is a little bit suspicious that there aren't any Leviathans or even any signs that Leviathans have been launched recently. That means Dark Samus spread Phazon across each planet by itself. But once again, that just raises further questions." Riku talks about this matter with Samus for a few seconds and proceeds to look up, noticing as the tunnel is widening in size and bits of red Phazon are trying to seep their way through the moist cracks in the ceiling.

"Well there will no longer be any questions on our mind soon enough. Dark Samus awaits us at the end of this tunnel, and its high time that it explains itself to us." Samus clenches her left hand in anger, Riku recognizing the intensity flowing around the hunter's body as a sign that she truly wanted to make the dark Phazon controller pay for creating all of those apparitions that the two of them had come across.

"While I enjoy the enthusiasm Samus, we can't really expect Dark Samus to explain itself while also giving us enough time to-…Oh who am I kidding, villains love to spill their motives and give us enough time to stop their plains." Riku makes a light joke regarding Dark Samus, but this time around Samus herself actually chuckles gently at it instead of responding with disdain.

The boy smiles as the hunter turns her head and says "See? That's a better type of joke to lay out in this situation." She had a more natural, feminine tone to her voice, as though she was in a casual environment instead of one of such immense peril. But in the end that was one of the admirable traits of Samus, in that even if she is distracted for a moment by something funny or heart wrenching she can quickly face forward and continue focusing on the mission with ease.

Riku smiles at Samus, and the two of them continue down this almost endless tunnel for a good five minutes before finally arriving at the very core of Phaaze itself despite not feeling their bodies descending towards it with each passing step. This was Dark Samus' inner sanctum, recreated almost perfectly to match the one it had on the previous Phaaze. It resembled a large cave with an enclosed ceiling of glowing red membranes resting high above the floor. Covering most of the floor is a giant circular hatch in the center with a ring of glowing red lights at the edge and a multi-pieced design that enables it to shape the opening at different sizes. Around this hatch is a circular-motif plating creating a floor above a large of pool of seething red Phazon. A wall of jagged, crystallized blue Phazon forms a circle surrounding the plating, but it begins to fall to become one with the floor as the heroes enter the room. The area outside the room looks entirely bleak, devoid of anything besides pitch black darkness illuminated lightly by the crimson glow of the ceiling high above the Sanctum.

As the heroes firmly position themselves on the ground of the Sanctum, the tunnel twists shut behind them, sealing them in as the hatch whirls to life and opens up. With steam emerging from what can only be assumed as a bath of red Phazon, Dark Samus slowly begins to rise out from the vat with its appearance having not changed in the slightest since the first encounter on the GFS Olympus. Combined with the crimson and yellow organic armor that composes Dark Samus' body is an aura that is a mixture of raw red and blue Phazon. With its body floating up above the closing hatch, Dark Samus greets the two heroes with a quiet, peaceful voice "Welcome once more to my Sanctum, Samus Aran…You and your young companion are both welcome guests to the new Phaaze that I have personally created."

With a snap of its right fingers, Dark Samus causes Phaaze to grind to a sudden halt, the braking of its large form shifting the Sanctum back and forth before it fully stops. Samus is greatly puzzled by the dark hunter's action just now, and promptly points her arm cannon at it and says "What's the meaning of this? Why did you stop Phaaze?"

"Because, Samus Aran, I have gotten exactly what I wanted from using this planetoid." Dark Samus begins to descend from the sky after making that suspicious remark, with the hunter keeping a bead drawn on it before saying in turn "Wait, what are you talking about?"

With the tip of its feet pointed at the ground, Dark Samus looks at the hunter and says in a chilling voice "What I now desired was to draw you to this planetoid, and you reacted to the bait exactly as I expected you to do."

Samus and Riku both flinch in regards to this news, but it is the hunter who is able to piece everything together first and says to Dark Samus "You mean you used Phaaze simply to lure me to you?"

"Of course." Dark Samus coldly replies. "It was quite easy to figure out how to get your attention and bring you to Phaaze. I knew you would not want your precious Earth to be infected by something as gruesome as Phazon, so you would arrive here quickly simply to stop it from coming to pass. Your behavior is predictable to a fault, Samus Aran."

"But why bother doing that? I was going to come after you once the Pirate Homeworld was done for anyways." Samus questions Dark Samus' motives once more, and the dark hunter looks at her and says in a stoic dialect "Because there was absolutely no way that those Aurora Units you built would be able to track the flow of Phazon from each world, so after you dealt with all of the worlds I infected I knew I had no choice but to lure your to Phaaze myself."

"…So did you create Phaaze simply to have a place to fight me on, or are you going to use it to infect other worlds?" Samus was suspicious about something, and asked a question that would be strong enough to get an answer from her dark counterpart.

Dark Samus points towards the hunter with a limp right hand, and says in a chilling voice "Yes…I only recreated Phaaze so we could fight once more in a familiar environment. Tell me, Samus Aran…Have either you or your young friend figured out just why I've done everything I have done so far?"

Dark Samus offers up a piercing inquiry, floating in place silently as both Samus and Riku pause to think about everything they have seen up until this point to determine Dark Samus' motives. With the dark hunter letting out a quiet, chilling laugh and Samus going uneasy, the teenage Overlord widens his easy as he recalls a rather crucial hint he received in one of his foreboding dreams, and with his right hand brandishing towards the head of the Phazon born hunter he says in a demanding voice "Take off your helmet, Dark Samus."

Samus turns to face the boy in disbelief of those words, saying as Dark Samus raises its arms towards its head "Riku, what are you getting at? Dark Samus' armor is all organic, there is no way that-" The hunter is stopped mid-sentence by a mechanical sounding click coming from the right of her body, and the two heroes turn to face Dark Samus they watch as it slowly pulls its helmet off from the rest of its supposedly organic armor.

It doesn't take long for Dark Samus to have the helmet off all the way, and Samus is nearly revolted by what she sees as the dark hunter lowers the helmet in front of its body with both arms. Underneath the helmet lied a face created out of red Phazon, but it wasn't just any face in particular…It was an exact copy of Samus' herself, right down to the ponytail and feminine structure. Samus stutters in horror, and Riku realizes now the nightmarish reality that his dreams were warning him of. He tried to hold back the urge to throw up at what he was seeing, but was just barely successful in this endeavor.

Dark Samus grins creepily at the heroes, saying in a tone that was a mixture of her own and Samus' natural voice "See what I have become, Samus Aran? I have very nearly become a perfect copy of you…I, born of Phazon, shall soon be given flesh, skin and hair to complete this change. But in the end, this accursed transformation is all my fault."

Samus glares at the Phazon reflection of herself with revulsion, but nonetheless musters up the courage to say to it "H-How is this possible?"

"Hehehe…I'll tell you how this happened, Samus Aran." Dark Samus smiles and laughs, and after slowly putting the helmet back over its face it holds its arms out and says to the two heroes "It all began with our first encounter…"

"_When I took your Phazon suit from you in a last ditch effort for survival, my Phazon DNA merged with the spectral remnants of memories from your armor and created me. Though I was granted many of your powers and a craving for Phazon, something else began to occur almost unbeknownst to my knowledge."_

"_Those memories ingrained into your armor began to affect my actions. I started to feel guilt for what I was doing, but at the same time I became obsessed with you…When I infected you with Phazon, I became even further connected to your mind, but unlike the other three hunters I infected you were completely immune to my control because of the connection between our armors. Instead, I merely caught further glimpses into your memories…This also had the unfortunate side-effect of changing my bodily composition bit by bit to match yours…"_

"_When you confronted me at Phaaze, my only goal was to end my own life by bringing about the end of Phazon, partially to stop myself from becoming exactly like you and also to fulfill the heroic urges that were building up inside of me. Everything should have gone successfully and we should not even be having this conversation, but something truly unexpected occurred…"_

"_As Phaaze exploded and Phazon was destroyed bit by bit, all of a sudden every remnant that was left was pulled back into my body, and my body was reborn, but the transformation into you was accelerated into what you see before you. I can only curse the willpower to live born into me through your armor for bringing me back to life."_

"_I knew then and there as I floated in the cold depths of space that there would be only way to rid myself of this transformation…And that would be to have you killed, and sever the connection between us forever." _

"_Or so I thought at first. But then I realized that I had absorbed too many of your memories through our Phazon-related connection, and even if you fell before my hand those memories would likely assure that I would become you. So I devised a plan to rid myself of both factors in a single swoop…"_

"_With Phazon reprogrammed to both create and corrode, I spread it across the planets related to those memories, and with the memories of those worlds implanted into the Phazon I ensured that after a set amount of time an apparition would be created out of each major foe you faced along your many years of missions. When everything was created exactly as the memories said they were, then I would be able to cleanse myself of the memories by destroying the apparitions myself, which would also sever the link of Phazon to each world and destroy them."_

"_And if you so happened to come across these apparitions, then my second goal would be completed at a much earlier time, for you would not have been able to kill them on your own. However, something, or rather someone, nearly brought my plans to an end…" _

Dark Samus' recollection of events ends with it turning its head to face the teenage Overlord, who points at himself with a puzzled expression and says to the dark hunter "Huh? I foiled your plans?"

"Yes…By intercepting some of the Phazon that I was using as a means of transportation towards the GFS Olympus where Samus Aran would assumedly be, you were accidentally infected and granted a Hyper Mode thanks to the Galactic Federation's accursed PED Suits." Dark Samus doesn't show irritation towards the boy despite the choice of words, which only furthers Riku's confusion.

"Wait…So you never intended to corrupt me?" He asks, to which Dark Samus replies with "Of course not. Despite your strange ability to fly in the depths of space, I was not the slightest bit interested in you at first…As far as you ruining my plans go, it was because of your Hyper Mode that the apparitions mostly died by Samus Aran's hand instead of my own, meaning that the Phazon was returned to me alongside those accursed memories."

Dark Samus grins and proceeds to say to both heroes as its focus goes between both of their bodies "But from failure comes a new opportunity. Though I will no longer be able to remove the memories from my head, I can circumvent this transformation through one other method…By taking complete control of the Elemental Overlord's body once he succumbs to Phazon!"

Riku flinches in surprise, but can only bring himself to chuckle nervously at Dark Samus before he says to it "So that explains everything. Why those apparitions existed, why you never confronted us directly, and why Phazon was reconstructing parts of certain planets. I have to admit, I can't believe that you went through all this trouble just to kill Samus and take over my body."

"…So, you don't care at all about spreading Phazon across the planets in order to make them your own?" Samus brings herself to inquire after all that she has heard.

Dark Samus holds its arms out and begins to rise up off the ground, saying in a firm voice to both heroes yet mostly in regards to Samus' question "No, I don't care at all about my original purpose as a corrupter of worlds. All I wish now is to bring about the end of your life and escape my transformation through the body of that child. I will not be bound to anyone's will or memories but my own, and it is for that purpose that we fight here today. Now come, heroes!"

_Next Time: Phazon's Farewell_


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Dark Samus**

Dark Samus starts off the battle by raising its right arm into the air, charging it with Phazon buried deep within its body in a matter of seconds and slamming its feet against the ground a moment later, creating a shockwave of Phazon that spreads outward as the being aims its sights on Riku. With its goal in mind to push the limits of his Hyper Mode and secure his body, Dark Samus launches a giant beam of Phazon composed of hundreds of miniature shards of crystal at the teenage Overlord.

Riku leaps into the air over the beam while turning around in mid-air, aiming his cannon at the tip of the tunnel behind him and firing in a diagonal fashion to push himself away from the top of the beam. While he flies through the air with a high amount of momentum, he pushes himself into his Morph Ball state upon seeing the Phazon beam being swayed his way. With the speed built up from his launching attack Riku clears the rim of the shockwave Dark Samus sent out and earlier and is easily able to outrun the beam until the dark being is unable to twist itself around any further to pursue him with its attack.

Samus takes advantage of the distraction provided by Dark Samus' intense focus to open fire upon the being with a barrage of five missiles after locking on to Dark Samus for an equal amount of seconds. However, the dark hunter is able to sense the missiles approaching from afar and swiftly swings its left arm out to summon forth and solidify a wall of Phazon around its body to block all the missiles with easy. As the hunter flinches in surprise at the strength of Dark Samus' defenses, Dark Samus liquefies the wall and turns to face her.

Zipping from the center of the room to beside Samus with a phantasmal trail behind it, Dark Samus liquefies and then solidifies its right arm into a jagged, crystal-like blade and aims for the hunter's neck with a deadly backwards swing, only to be foiled in its assassination attempt by the danger alert systems in Samus' helmet, which allow her to turn and face Dark Samus while swiftly kicking herself back while her body was slanted, with only the tip of the blade even coming close to her armor by the time the dark hunter has reached the end of its swing.

Once Samus lands on the ground she switches from the Power Beam to the Wave Beam and begins charging a shot meant to throw off Dark Samus' vision, but before she can pull it off Riku kicks out of his Morph Ball state behind her and leaps into the air, poising his dual-barrel arm cannon at Dark Samus and charging up fire within the very moment that it spawns. Launching a large Phazon meteor at the dark hunter, Riku hovers in place with his back thrusters while Samus side flips out of the way to avoid getting caught up in the blast radius.

However, Dark Samus calmly raises its right arm into the air and stops the Phazon meteor mere inches away from its body, which only surprises Riku momentarily before he realizes how stupid his obvious method of attack was and grits his teeth out of anger towards his foolishness. The dark hunter does not let the matter be dropped there though, and is quick to berate the boy with a simple "What has been given, can also be used against you." Ending this sentence off with a punctuated clamping of its fingers, Dark Samus obliterates the Phazon meteor, refusing to turn it against its master simply because it would be easy for him to dodge.

As the chunks of Phazon rock are scattered across the Sanctum to become one with the pool below, Dark Samus turns its head slightly to the left and watches as Samus charges straight its way with the burning aura of the Speed Booster surrounding her Varia Suit. The dark hunter is unable to react in time, and is slammed head on at high speeds. Samus' momentum is killed, for she ran into the equivalent of an unbreakable wall in the form of Dark Samus' incredibly defenses, though the blow managed to push the dark hunter back quite a few feet along the ground until it was floating inches above the fall Phazon wall.

Dark Samus flinches momentarily in pain, the Speed Booster apparently having done just a bit of damage to the dark hunter, which in turn causes Dark Samus to comment with "Hmmm…The Speed Booster. You never used that in any of our previous encounters. Had I not hardened my armor in time, I could have suffered a little more damage than necessary."

As Dark Samus wastes time monologue on how it survived Samus' Speed Booster, the hunter herself glares directly at it, unaware of the actions of her partner Riku until the boy blasts Dark Samus head-on with a giant orb of Phazon empowered light, at which point the hunter turns her head to look up as the boy raises his smoking barrels into the air with his left hand resting atop the back of the leftmost one. But though Riku felt triumphant in getting this attack off on Dark Samus, his joy would soon turn to fear as the dark hunter appears in the air behind him and throws a powerful punch straight into the center of his back.

The shockwave of raw strength pushes itself through the armor and skin and strikes Riku's spine, causing his body to arch forward as his eyes widen and he fights back a tearful reaction of pain. With Dark Samus having disabled the boy's actions for the time being with that single blow, the hunter goes for a second strike on the right shoulder in hopes of making it harder for him to use his cannon in battle. But Samus is able to react quickly enough to the dark hunter's movements in order to fire a missile its way.

Dark Samus is forced to draw back its fist before making contact with the shoulder pad of Riku's armor before the missile does damage to its arm. While the missile glides away into the distance and explodes Dark Samus glares towards Samus Aran, being distracted long enough for the teenage Overlord to turn himself around while fighting against the pain in his spine to aim his arm cannon at the dark hunter and fire a close-range Dark Beam Phazon shot that pushes his opponent through the air, dealing consistent damage via its sharp crystal surface until Dark Samus grabs onto the attack with its right hand and breaks it with a single clench.

Riku pants and grunts in pain, gulping down a chunk of saliva once as he tries to re-adjust his spine to dissolve some of the sharp sensation ricocheting along his nerves. However, much to his surprise, the Phazon produced in his body goes into overdrive and quickly moves towards the broken spine, healing it up in a matter of seconds and allowing the boy to raise himself upright ready to continue the battle. Dark Samus merely grins behind its helmet and says in a stoic voice "Ah yes, you can heal yourself while in this particular state of Hyper Mode…A momentary luxury for you, is it not?"

Riku understood what Dark Samus was implying with that remark, but doesn't let it get to him despite the fact that he could feel the Phazon continuing to grow inside of his body. Pointing his arm cannon at the dark hunter, the boy says to it "Yeah, thanks for giving it me, even if it was by accident" turning Dark Samus' words against it, Riku proceeds to charge up and fire a large Phazon meteor at the hunter.

The same thing happens as before, with Dark Samus suspending the meteor in place with a coy laugh and preparing to crush it with a single clamping of its fingers, but this time around Samus takes advantage of the dark hunter's concentration on this matter and charges up a Super Ice Missile that is directly fired straight at Dark Samus. An icy collision ensues that shrouds the dark hunter in a blanket of ice after it turns its head upon sensing the missile approaching, and because its focus on the meteor was broken it is able to finish moving along its intended path and strike Dark Samus hard.

With a fiery explosion that chars that bottom of the sanctum consuming its body that hurts even more thanks to the previous ice missile, Dark Samus is forced to harden its armor to maximum strength in order to avoid severe damage, only for this move to stiffen it to the point that it remains stationary in mid-air. To circumvent this problem, Dark Samus splits itself into two ethereal copies that dash out of the explosion and take on a nearly solidified form fast enough to fool the heroes that they charge after that they are real.

Riku folds his arms in front of his body and blocks the charge of the Dark Samus copy, only for his defenses to be for naught as it passes right through him like the ethereal being it is. Puzzled and caught off-guard by this attack, the teenage Overlord is swiftly blasted through the dissipating explosion by a beam of Phazon from Dark Samus, the strength of the attack managing to push Riku away from the Sanctum as his body is filled with even more of the corrosive material through cracks in his armor.

Once the beam has fallen out of existence Dark Samus zips out of the smoke from the explosion at lightning speeds and follows-up on the disorienting charge of its copy and kicks Samus Aran straight in the chest, and with enough strength to topple a large building applied to the foot Dark Samus is able to launch the hunter against the ground and send her grinding above the hatch until she stops just inches away from falling off the edge of the lowered Sanctum walls. With her helmet hanging over the edge, Samus turns her head around and notices the glowing, pulsating core of Phaaze dangling below her body, and quickly forces herself into her Morph Ball state in order to roll away from this dangerous location while simultaneously dodging an assuredly finishing punch from a rapidly descending Dark Samus.

Once in a safe location, Samus unfurls from her Morph Ball form and aims her arm cannon at her dark counterpart, firing a missile swiftly at it while its fist is pinned into the ground. With no true way to dodge the attack, Dark Samus uses its control over the landscape to summon forth a curved shield of Phazon via the crystal wall its fist is stuck into. The Phazon absorbs the concussive force of the missile and the ensuing explosion, but leaves Dark Samus relatively defenseless in the front. Riku takes swift advantage of this defenselessness and rushes through the air until he is in front of the dark hunter, where he performs a simple yet effective roundhouse kick to the face that sends Dark Samus crashing through his own wall of Phazon.

However, the dark hunter is agile enough to use its flying capabilities in order to flip itself around and land on its feet, though the blow to the head still did a surprising amount of damage overall. Once on the ground Dark Samus skids for a few feet and begins dragging in Phazon into its right arm for an attack against the teenage Overlord. However, instead of seeing the boy fleeing from view, Dark Samus watches as he confidently folds his arms in front of his chest and points towards the ground.

A second later a Power Bomb left behind by Samus Aran just moments ago detonates before Dark Samus can react, and with a superheated explosion covering the dark hunter faster than it can react to Riku smiles and readies his arm cannon for another attack on Dark Samus.

However, as the explosion fades away, Dark Samus gets on its knees in a way that signifies that it has taken a high amount of damage, and with all pretenses of calmness gone from its body the dark hunter states in a blunt tone of seriousness "That's enough from the two of you…"

Pointing at Riku with its right hand and then clamping down with all fingers, Dark Samus uses the Phazon buried within the boy's body to paralyze him in place before swiftly launching a sphere of Phazon at him before he can even shift expressions towards one of pure surprise. The sphere is absorbed into the boy's body automatically and breaks the paralysis at the cost of forcing Riku to stay in place as he feels his arms going limp from the Phazon overdosing and spreading out to his limbs.

With Riku out of the battle for the time being, Dark Samus senses the real hunter's movements and quickly summons forth a small shield behind its head as an extension of its armor to block another missile, swiftly turning around and slamming its right hand on the ground to launch a tall trail of Phazon spikes along the ground at Samus. The end spike pierces the right shoulder on Samus' armor and breaks it apart to reveal the wiring underneath. Thankfully the light-blue latex suit underneath isn't exposed, otherwise the hunter would have to worry about the red Phazon in the air infecting her body.

Samus sprints to the left a bit to avoid being caught up in the spikes, but Dark Samus is waiting off to the side of her body with both of its arms converted into crystal Phazon blades. With the plan in mind to leave Samus with little escape from its sharp blades, Dark Samus swung both arms like a set of pincers ready to clamp the hunter's head between them and slice it off in one fell stroke, but once again the killing desire of the dark hunter would not be fulfilled as through a brief moment of recovery Riku launches a burning Phazon meteor that strikes Dark Samus and pushes him away from the hunter with a powerful explosion.

Samus was barely able to react to these events, but still was able to look at the weakening Riku with a look of thanks. The boy, despite feeling glad that Samus was safe, was barely able to relish in this feeling as his legs followed his arms and began to feel like liquid as a result of the Phazon corruption entering its final stages. _"Just hold off a little longer Riku…You need to make sure that Samus can return to her ship safely…" _His thoughts were vague yet if one were to hear them they would come across as foreboding due to the terminology used, but the boy still cracked a confident smile and fought against this sensation in his body in order to fly back into the Sanctum and land near the fallen wall.

Dark Samus, after being slammed against the ground by the teenage Overlord's last attack, rises up and floats ominously in the air like a rag doll, saying in a quiet, unnerving voice "I am starting to reconsider my plans here, child…"

With the head lifting up with a bone-shattering creak coming from the neck, Dark Samus says in an all too nonchalant voice of callousness "Perhaps it would be for the best if both of you perished."

Riku cocked his arm cannon at Dark Samus and said to it "You are welcome to kill me as much you want, but I can assure you on this matter…Samus will escape this place alive and live to fight for galactic peace another day."

Dark Samus grinned behind its helmet and looked over at the boy's after hearing his strange choice of words, saying in an all-too foreboding tone of voice "Isn't that just so true about Samus Aran? From the very beginning of her life, she has been a survivor of many tragedies…She has seen and brought so much destruction in her wake, and everyone who becomes attached to her in some way, shape or form perishes for the sake of her continued survival."

Samus looks at the dark hunter and notices that it is starting to degrade, possibly from overworking itself to survive all the damage inflicted upon its body throughout this battle, but then Dark Samus begins to raise its right arm up in a defiant manner while still maintaining a puppet-like demeanor and says in a fading voice "Perhaps its time for me to stop trying to end this on a personal level…"

As Dark Samus begins to melt apart into liquid Phazon, it leaves behind one last attack in the form of a sharp beam of Phazon aimed straight into Riku's chest. The attack is dodged thanks in part to the boy's perceptiveness towards the dark hunter's tricks, but as Riku sways his head back to the center he hears Dark Samus' chilling laugh inside of his head as it says to him _"Its time for you to become one with me…Enjoy your last few moments of independence…" _

Dark Samus' liquid form oozes into the pool below the Sanctum, but before Samus Aran can comment on what just happened Phaaze begins to quake around the two heroes. It was beginning to fall apart without its master to keep it stable, and with her head turning to face the boy Samus blurts out "We need to get moving now!"

Riku responds by yelling out through the noise of the trembling "Fine, but I don't think I'll be able to keep up with you if you activate the Speed Booster, unfortunately."

Samus pauses for a moment at this surprising bit of news from the teenage Overlord, in that moment also realizing that she hadn't noticed how badly the boy's corruption appeared to be affecting him now. But with an empathetic nod of her head, the hunter blurts out "Its alright, we can make it out in time if we go now!"

Riku runs forward to join up beside Samus, and the two heroes proceed to make a mad dash down the tunnel they entered the Sanctum through. The two heroes were noticeably moving at a normal enough speed, though this was mostly because of the hunter's desire to not activate the Speed Booster and Riku's weakened limbs. As Phaaze trembled around the two of them, the teenage Overlord felt something amiss coming from behind his body.

With a turn of his head over his right shoulder, Riku watched as a giant wave of Phazon began to encroach the two of them from behind, its original lying within the Sanctum that they left Dark Samus to perish in. But the dark hunter had not actually fallen as Riku had so merrily hoped, and instead had become one with the wave of pure Phazon that was dragging in the membrane of the tunnel in order to increase its own size. In the middle of the wave was the disembodied body of Dark Samus, who declared in a desperate tone of voice "YOU SHALL BE BURIED IN THE DEPTHS OF SPACE FOREVER, SAMUS ARAN!"

The echoes of Dark Samus' voice are heard by both heroes, but Samus only makes a stoic remark of "Dark Samus just won't give up, will it?"

Though the hunter seemed relatively unconcerned, Riku was able to examine the situation thoroughly and realized a rather grave truth. Though the speed of the Phazon wave was nothing at the moment, it was steadily increasing with each passing second, and before the two of them would be able to make it to safety they would both be consumed whole. The teenage Overlord turned his head towards Samus Aran, and after quickly discerning the motivation behind why she made that earlier remark he began to slow himself down.

The hunter notices this from the corner of her visor and quickly says while keeping pace with the boy "Don't tell me you are about to reach terminal corruption Riku…Come on, if we can escape Phaaze then you will be free of Phazon for good! …We will all finally be free of its presence, for that matter."

Riku shakes his head, and in a gentle yet nonchalant voice he says to Samus "I know what you are trying to do, Samus."

"What are you talking about Riku?" Samus says in a tone of utter confusion.

"Samus, I told you once before that if it came down to it, I would gladly give my own life in order to ensure your own survival. I can't let you stay this slow for my sake, you need to use the Speed Booster to make it to your ship in time, and you need to leave me behind here to perish." Riku gives an answer to the hunter's inquiry with his eyelids closed and the feeling in his waist area fading away thanks of Phazon, which only slows him down further.

"No! I won't allow you to sacrifice yourself for me! We are both going to make it out of Phaaze alive, and I don't want to hear any objections from you, got it?!" Samus makes her position on this matter quite clear, but there was a particular choice of words that caused Riku to open his eyelids in shock and crack a light smile.

"Heh…So I guess some things Adam said did stick with you even after all this time, huh?" Riku found a light amount of humor in this matter, and Samus merely goes silent in response to what the boy said.

"Look Samus, face the facts here. Even though the corruption will be gone with Phaaze's destruction, right now I am weakened greatly by it. I can't run out of here as fast as you can, so why should you have to die just to try and fulfill a false hope that I may survive this escape? Besides, while I still have Phazon flowing in my veins, I should be able to slow down the wave of Phazon Dark Samus created long enough for you to make up for lost time." Riku details his idea to the hunter, but this does little to make her feel better.

"…Riku, this isn't fair for either of us and you know it. You shouldn't have to die because you got involved in something by complete accident, and for once in my life I shouldn't have to let another person I care for sacrifice themselves for my sake!" Samus sounded as though she was on the verge of tears, and this only made the teenage Overlord murmur the hunter's name in a subdued tone of surprise.

But with his eyelids once again going shut, the boy said to the hunter "…We did grow attached to each other, didn't we? You first saw me as this reckless child, and eventually grew to see me as a partner…And perhaps even something more than that. Perhaps even now I am still reckless for doing this, but now I am doing something reckless for someone I care about. Samus, I'm glad I got to know you, even if it was for such a short period of time, but this galaxy needs a strong, fearless bounty hunter such as yourself to defend it from threats that it hasn't even come to learn about yet. The universe doesn't need someone like me around to save it, there are other people more worthy of the task."

"…" Samus can only stay silent in the face of everything that Riku had just said, and the boy responds to that silence by suddenly stopping and saying to her as she stops in place with her back facing him "You know, we never even got to see our human bodies this entire time. But while I could take off my armor and survive, I don't want the last thing you see of me to be this possibly disfigured person that I have become. But before we depart for the final time, there is something I want to leave you with…"

Samus stands in place and trembles in sadness with her right fist clenched in anger, but all this negativity and sorrow is melted away as Riku leans forward and wraps his arms around her body to embrace her in a warm hug. The hunter freezes, not knowing how to respond to this hug at first as Riku keeps his hold on her armor for a good few seconds, even though the numbness in his arms prevented him from getting the most out of this tender moment. Pulling back quickly after the time has passed and turning to face the encroaching Phazon wave, the teenage Overlord goes silent as his head hangs solemnly.

Samus pauses in place for but another moment as the glow of the Phazon wave reflects off of the back of her armor, and with a little bit of denial left in her heart she says to the boy "…When you survive this ordeal, please seek me out again one day, I'd like for us to chat as regular humans would…But for now, I bid you farewell, Elemental Overlord Riku." Giving a final nod of respect and acknowledgement towards the title that Samus once didn't believe held any truth in its existence, the hunter dashes forward at lightning speeds and activates her Speed Booster to make up for lost time.

Riku stands before the Phazon wave and holds his arms up, the corruption having now reached up into the bottom part of his chest organs. He focused on the approaching wave with all of his might while keeping his eyelids closed, but as the Phazon wave began to stop and Dark Samus' visage approached the front of his body the boy said to his helmet "Patch me in to Commander Adam."

A few rings are mixed in with the echoes of the trembling planet, and Riku is swiftly greeted by the Commander's voice _"Riku? Thank god I managed to get in contact with you. What is up with that glowing planetoid floating above Earth's atmosphere?"_

Adam spoke in his usual quiet yet serious tone of voice, but Riku merely lets out a tired chuckle and says to him "Heh, there's a long story behind that, but you'll probably hear it from Admiral Dane after Samus briefs him on the mission's end. I just wanted to call you up and thank you for everything you've said, despite how little the two of us interacted…"

"…_So I'm guessing this is the end of your mission, huh? Heh, you didn't need to take my advice regarding Samus so literally Riku. There's no need to sacrifice yourself for her sake." _Adam is able to discern Riku's motives despite very little context, but the boy didn't find this surprising in the slightest.

"Heh, like you wouldn't do the same thing if circumstances put you in a similar situation." Riku remarks, to which Adam replies with _"No, you're probably right. But it seems like such a waste for you to throw away your life like this." _

"Probably. Samus already brought up this same matter to me before she left." Riku says with a smile on his face. _"Similar minds think in similar ways, don't they? …Still, for your efforts in helping the universe, I will make sure that you receive a hero's funeral." _

"…No need to go that far Adam. I'm just a random boy who got swept up in unforeseen circumstances. Besides, I'm not really worthy of the title of 'hero'. Just promise me that when you see Samus again in the future, you'll try not to give her too hard of a time." Riku ends of his conversation with Adam then and there, but the Commander actually pauses in silence at the information the boy gave to him before signing off with _"…That I can do. Even if you won't receive a funeral, just know that both Samus and I will honor your efforts in our own ways. Farewell then…" _

With Adam offline and Riku's corruption nearing maximum capacity, the boy can only bring himself to smirk as he says with a whisper "Heh…There I go again, denying that I am a hero despite all of my actions pointing me towards such an alignment…"

A melancholy mood drapes over the teenage Overlord as he says to himself "…Its weird, even though I know that I am about to die, it feels as though this isn't the end. I'm not recalling any parts of my life, and I don't feel nostalgic about anything…Then again, I guess a vast majority of my memories aren't even my own, are they now? …If I'm going to die, then I'm going to die with the one thing I have that's truly my own, and that's my identity."

As the boy says this, he begins to shed his armor off using the power of electricity. Each piece snaps off one at a time, freeing him from this heavy restraint as he also uses his air powers to give him protection from the vacuum of space for his final moments. With as far along in his corruption as he is, all that truly remains of the original Riku are his vest, shit, shoes and pants. His hair and eyes have been translucent like the purest of Phazon, and his skin has changed into an unnatural glowing blue color. He was no longer truly human in appearance, which ruined the idea behind him dying with his identity intact, but that wasn't enough to truly upset him.

Riku remained melancholy as his control over the Phazon wave began to slip, and when it did finally break he simply swung his arms out and accepted the Phazon as it flowed endlessly over his entire body. He was consumed by it bit by bit until there was nothing left, and all of Phaaze began to go silent…

_Next Time: Essence_


	20. Final Chapter

**Final Chapter: Preservation;Prime **

Riku widens his eyelids open. He was floating within a translucent dark blue realm that pulsated much like the corrosive Phazon, his body feeling weightless in place as he noticed that he was lying on his back in mid-air. Without so much as a bit of a thought, Riku rises back onto his feet and looks around. He looks down at his arms and sees normal human skin for the first time in what felt like a very long while, and thinks to himself _"Huh? What happened to all of the Phazon in my body?" _

Riku examines his body further, and realizes that he is in his casual clothing instead of the armor he wore before. After pausing for a moment to think about this, the teenage Overlord's eyelids widen as he remembers his previous actions. "Oh yeah…I blocked the Phazon wave from reaching Samus and shed my armor near the end…But then I was swept up into the wave."

Riku looks around the realm as he lists off everything in utter confusion. He slants his eyebrows and says quietly "…But if I did that, then shouldn't I be dead?"

"_Fortunately, you haven't." _A distorted yet familiar voice gurgles through the realm, causing Riku to flinch and look up as an entity begins to descend into sight. It was a dark blue six-tentacled squid with a highly developed glowing red nuclei that pushed blood through the tentacles. The creature had a humanoid face and an almost gelatinous texture to its skin. With its glowing orange eyes staring bleakly into the puzzled eyes of the teenage Overlord, Riku starts to clench his fists in recognition of the creature and says to it "Dark Samus…"

Riku snarls at the abomination who once took on the appearance of the famous bounty hunter, and says to it on angered confusion "What is this place? And how are you still alive?!"

"_This is the consciousness of Phazon itself, created from the sentience of the original planet Phaaze and utilized as a network through which the planet and I could control all who was touched by the corrosive grasp of Phazon. As for why I am alive, the answer should be quite obvious now that you know such details." _Dark Samus says to the befuddled teenage Overlord.

"…This form is your original state of being before you took Samus' armor. The armor was always just a shell. Inside your mind, you continued to be Metroid Prime even after all that had happened from being in contact with the armor." Riku correctly answers the reason as to why Dark Samus, now identifiable in this form as Metroid Prime, was alive in this realm. This also had the unintended consequence of alerting the boy to the fact that his consciousness had been kept preserved inside of Phazon even though his body had been destroyed.

"_That is correct." _As Metroid Prime acknowledged Riku's accurate assumption, the entire consciousness of Phazon began to tremble, most likely from the destruction of Phaaze occurring outside of this realm. The abomination looked up, its tentacles flaying about in the air as Riku in turn looks around the realm and sees glowing red cracks starting to form in the atmosphere.

"_Hmph…But as you can see, Phazon is about to die out, this time forever. However, I do not have any intention of dying here." _Metroid Prime waves its tentacles behind its body and begins to swim along the air towards Riku, floating its away behind him in a matter of seconds and lowering the tips of its front most tentacles towards the boy's cerebrum.

Sensing the foreboding movements of the Phazon abomination, Riku swings his right arm out calmly and summons a surge of fire that singes the tips of Metroid Prime's appendages, surprising the creature enough that it flies back to its original position with a single backwards thrust of its tentacles. Once in place, Metroid Prime says as it turns its body to face Riku _"Even after your body has become nothing, you continue to resist?" _

"I should be asking you a similar question. Why are you still trying to acquire me when my body has perished?" Riku asks, not even flinching the slightest at the fact that his consciousness is inevitably going to perish in this realm.

"_Hehe…You think I cannot still accomplish my goals simply because your body has vanished? I still am in control of all remaining Phazon, even if my body has become one with this dying planet, and since everything about your body has joined me in this fate it would be far too easy for me to recreate your body and take it over even once Phazon vanishes completely." _Metroid Prime expresses its plans nonchalantly and with an air of confidence, something which concerns Riku little as he turns his body to the side and summons forth his helix-bladed sword in front of his right hand, establishing a mental connection to keep it in front of the extended palm as he glares over at the abomination.

"If you try and recreate my body then I am just going to put my consciousness back into it before you even get a chance to touch it." Riku boldly boasts, which causes Metroid Prime to hauntingly laugh for a few seconds while it slants it eyebrows and slowly moves it tentacles around.

"_Of course you will, but that's why I am not simply going to create your body right this instance. First, while your consciousness lies in front of me, I am finally going to do what should have been done a long time ago and break it, preventing you from ever existing in this universe again." _Metroid Prime offers its own boast, but the teenage Overlord simply rolls his eyes towards the abomination and lets out a semi-annoyed groan.

"Ugh…Will you just stop trying already? Seriously, how many times have you given these empty threats about 'breaking my mind' and yet failed to accomplish it? Just accept it Metroid Prime, you are going to die in this realm now, and if you just let things be you can finally be rid of Samus' memories." Riku tries to reason with this abomination, hoping to avoid unneeded fighting seeing as he believes that he is likely not going to survive this ordeal no matter what happens next.

"_Perhaps before I was too arrogant in my claims…But you do realize the disadvantage you have now, yes? You are in the consciousness of Phazon itself, and with it my strength is now more than enough to defeat even a god such as yourself." _Metroid Prime's remarks cause Riku to stamp his right foot in place and look up with an annoyed glare before he sighs quietly to himself and glares over at the abomination.

"I'm starting to get really tired of people putting me up on a pedestal I don't belong on. Hero? God? I am neither of those things. I'm a mortal who has made too many mistakes in his short life to even be considered worthy of either title, and in all honesty I am perfectly ok with that." Riku's nonchalant behavior annoys Metroid Prime to no end, and as it glares at the boy it twitches up as though it was scowling.

"_There will only be one title you shall be referred to as once I have broken your consciousness…All across the many galaxies in the universe people will refer to you as a destroyer, and come to fear your existence without even knowing that I am the one in control of your body." _

Metroid Prime's continued insistence towards its victory caused Riku to tighten his glare towards the abomination and say to him in a more serious tone of voice "Look, stop talking about victory as though it will be so easy. I may not be a hero, I may not be a god, but I'm someone with morals who knows well enough now the consequences of his actions. If I falter now for even a second, even though my body is gone and my consciousness is on the edge of collapse, then I will allow a destruction craving abomination to terrorize the galaxy using my powers and identity."

Turning his body forward, Riku points his sword at Metroid Prime and exclaims at him "So if you want to recreate and take control of my body, then know fully well that you will be facing me at the height of my abilities, and the task of conquering this consciousness with nothing left to lose will be almost insurmountable! The time for talk is over, Metroid Prime, come at me and take control if you believe so firmly that you can!"

Riku leaps into the air at Metroid Prime, igniting his blade with burning red fire as the Phazon consciousness trembles harder. With a mental command following the movement of his arm through the air, the teenage Overlord launches a close-range slash of fire that surprises the abomination as it impacts with the front of its face and knocks the creature back a few feet as the boy lands and keeps the sword crossing in front of his body.

Grinning at the fact that his attack went off successfully, the teenage Overlord thinks to himself _"Its been too long since I've used this in battle…" _

Riku then looks on ahead as Metroid Prime recovers from the attack and rises up, opening its nightmarish mouth up wide and screeching like the primal creature it truly was and wasting no time in lashing two tentacles out at the boy, lacing them both with layers of hardened Phazon to amplify the damage dealt if they connect.

The teenage Overlord leaps to the left and then back to the right as the tentacles are swung down, striking the cracked realm of Phazon consciousness in their crystallized state and shattering gaps deep within with a resounding echo. Riku then drags the tip of his blade along the ground and begins to circle counterclockwise around Metroid Prime, making his way towards the more vulnerable backside of the creature with his blade crackling with electricity.

As Metroid Prime retracts its tentacles and glares off to the side to focus on the boy, it wills the Phazon consciousness to react to his movements and defend its master, and from the ground in front of the teenage Overlord a lump begins to form. This lump pops open in seconds and creates a seething pillar of red Phazon that forces the boy to stop running and react instantaneously to the abomination's defensive measures, and with a thrust of his left hand out in front of his body Riku pops out an orb of wind from the palm that collides with the rim of the pillar's emergence point and creates a burst of air that knocks the boy backwards through the realm.

Though his movements are left uncontrolled as he spins around in mid-air, Riku positions himself upright and breaks his momentum with a swing of his sword and a simple mental guidance. Now that he was floating above Metroid Prime as the abomination turns itself around, the teenage Overlord focused entirely on the top of its head and raised his electricity charged sword into the air like a conductor rod, dragging to him from an unknown source a powerful bolt of crimson lightning that is guided towards Metroid Prime by Riku pointing his sword out in front of his body.

The six-tentacle monstrosity, with its large if somewhat nimble form, is barely able to escape the searing wrath of the lightning as it smites the ground and creates a charred crater that is visible after the smoke from the attack has begun to settle. Metroid Prime then aims its sight upon the boy as he takes a moment to recover from the last attack and quickly commands the Phazon consciousness to tear open a hole in the realm before the teenage Overlord and summon forth a claw of Phazon that attempts to wrap its dripping fingers around the boy's neck to wring the air right out of him.

However, Riku is able to guide his blade through the air to cut the appendage down, glaring seriously down past the scar at Metroid Prime as the abomination slinks off to the left and spins to face him, opening its mouth and roaring as it commands the Phazon consciousness to summon forth from the sky around the boy sixteen jagged bars of hardened Phazon that are placed close enough together that Riku is pinned motionless in mid-air, his left arm forced to stick beside his body as the arm his weapon is clasped in is clamped in place by two well-placed bars. The roughness of the hardened Phazon didn't feel good on Riku's skin, but thanks to his prior corruption he was in no danger of getting infected again now.

However, Metroid Prime could still theoretically hurt him a lot if it struck him with a concentrated blast of Phazon, which the abomination was currently focusing together in a spherical form in front of its body through the tips of its tentacles. Riku has to act fast in order to save his own skin, and with a flexing of his right arm muscles along with him adding a layer of solid rock around the skin of the limb he is able to crack the two bars of solid Phazon, weakening them to the point that he is just has to exert a little more strength in order to free that part of his body from the bars.

After freeing his sword arm from those two bars, Riku quickly swings the blade in an arc towards the front of his body and cuts halfway through four particularly placed bars, giving himself a large enough opening after the top halves of the bars have collapsed and shattered on the ground from him to dash out with a spiral barrel roll through the air. Metroid Prime fires off its Phazon empowered beam right as he escapes, with its tentacles spreading apart as the beam starts from the top of the bars and melts them down until it reaches the very bottom, the realm vibrating from the immense power the beam possessed.

Riku was rather glad to have dodged the attack in the nick of time, but is distracting by his relief long enough for Metroid Prime to lithely glide in front of his path of flight and spin itself around sideways with the tentacles encased in hardened Phazon. Riku is struck in the back by two tentacles in a row and is flung against the ground of realm in seconds, with Metroid Prime looking to follow up by impaling him through his spine after it has stopped spinning around. Though the teenage Overlord feels a bit of pain flowing through his backside, he still props himself up with the help of his sword and begins to rise to his feet before Metroid Prime can descend and thrust all six tentacles into his body to end his life.

Riku leaps back as the abomination crashes into the ground, and Metroid Prime's sudden drop into the ground leaves him locked in place for a few seconds. This grants the teenage Overlord a perfect chance to attack the backside of the beast, and with flames ignited along his blade he dashes behind Metroid Prime and performs a combo of sword slashes to damage the vulnerable abomination. Ending off this assault by performing a powerful yet straightforward cut through the center of the other spots he attacked, Riku halts his sudden dash with his feet gliding forward and the heels of his shoes grinding up dust along the ground and turns back around as Metroid Prime pulls itself from the ground and appears to be in a great deal of pain from being attacked in the back.

The abomination's body was fizzling out of existence slowly, signifying that its consciousness was beginning to die. The realm trembled even faster, and Metroid Prime thrusts its face out and lets out another roar. The beast becomes increasingly violent out of dying desperation, and with a relentless charge Metroid Prime gets up close and personal with the teenage Overlord and recklessly swings its bladed tentacles around in a desperate attempt to deal even one bit of damage onto the boy's body.

Riku leaps back to avoid the initial brunt of the assault, and is forced to glide his body around in a swinging motion to dodge every other tentacle perfectly. With eyes widened in anger, Metroid Prime proclaims _"Why can I not defeat you?! You have nothing to gain from defeating me, you have no motivations, you are going to die no matter what you do! So stop resisting my wrath and let me destroy you now to free your from an agonizing demise!"_

The teenage Overlord sighs as he dodges two more attacks, and with a voice dripping with calmness he says to Metroid Prime "I told you already. Its because I have nothing left to lose that I can fight on so valiantly…I'm sorry Metroid Prime, but…"

Riku stamps his feet in place and ducks under two tentacle swings before dispelling his sword and converting the excess of fire into a sphere roughly twice the size of the circumference of his palm. Seeing a perfect opening between the tentacles, the teenage Overlord finishes his previous sentence off with "This is the end of us both" and proceeds to thrust the flaming sphere into the center of Metroid Prime's body as he lifts himself up. The attack impacts with the face and the abomination freezes up as the back of his body ruptures straight through with an explosive plume of flames, the front of his head left with a gaping hole that begins to leak Phazon after Riku swiftly draws his right arm back and looks on coldly at the staggered Metroid Prime.

"_I-I…I can't believe it…" _Metroid Prime, with its body's image now fizzling uncontrollable, begins to spasm and stagger back along the air as Riku stands calmly in place and watches the abomination convulse.

The increased trembling of the realm of Phazon's consciousness causes the teenage Overlord to flinch in shock as he feels something odd puncturing him through the center of his chest. Looking down, the boy notices that he had the terrible misfortune of standing right where a large chunk of this realm was to shatter, and now that this much of his consciousness had been broken off he was frozen in place. Metroid Prime, as the spasms died out and its dying body floated in the air far-off with the tentacles bulging in pain, laughs chillingly and says to the boy _"How does it feel to have won such a pointless battle? Ha…One last chance at satisfaction before you die, and you've lost the ability to enjoy even that…" _

Riku merely looks around the realm, ignoring the mocking words of the abomination as he hangs his head forward a bit and closes his eyelids ready to accept his inevitable demise. Metroid Prime is rather shocked that the boy didn't have anything else to say to him, and this very silence resonates within this abomination and makes him actually feel a hint of regret for most of the things he has said. As his body begins to disintegrate within this collapsing realm, Metroid Prime says quietly _"Hmph…Perhaps I should do this as my final act…" _

Outside the realm of Phazon consciousness, the second Phaaze that Dark Samus had created begins to pulsate outward from the atmosphere, the pulses becoming stronger and more frequent with each passing second before suddenly they stop completely and the planet collapses into its own core, finishing off its own existence with a gigantic outburst of Phazon across an immeasurable stretch of space. For a few minutes, a field of dark-blue and red can be seen visible from Earth, but this event fades out of existence with all remaining traces of Phazon taken along with it…The threat was over, and no one would know of the sacrifices taken to ensure the safety of the galaxy…

**Part 4 Story 2: Desolate Corruption.**

**The End…?**


	21. Epilogue and Afterword

**Epilogue: Look to the Stars**

Samus Aran, who left behind the teenage Overlord to his sacrifice what felt like all too long ago, managed to make it back to her gunship with the help of her Speed Booster. Keeping her emotions in check as she enters the ship, Samus fired up the thrusters and turned on the wings of her ship, making her way out of the dying Phaaze without so much as a hint of hesitation in her body. Once past the gravitational pull of the planet, Samus took her ship a great distance away from Phaaze before turning it around to look on, hoping deep down that Riku would make it out in some manner.

"Come on…I know you can do it." She says quietly, her eyelids arched firmly in a worried fashion as she stands up and lays her hands down on the safer parts of her control panel.

But after a short deal of time passes, the hunter witnesses the end of Phaaze before her very eyes, the collapse and explosion of the planet rocking her ship slightly and forcing her back into her seat to avoid being tossed aside by this powerful shockwave. Once the aftermath of Phaaze's demise has died down, Samus looks on ahead and quickly taps on the controls of her ship to activate her life scanner. But despite the long-range capabilities of the device, the hunter didn't pick up anything where Phaaze once was.

Riku was gone, and for all of Samus' hopes there was no chance that he was suddenly going to show up in front of her ship. For a moment, the hunter clenched her left fist in anger and pounded the top of her control panel, but as she began to tremble and bring herself onto the verge of tears she paused momentarily and thought about how the boy would react if he saw her make too big of a deal out of his death.

Samus then smiles and lifts her head up, looking out through the window of her ship and giving a rather honorable salute with her arm cannon in front of the top of her helmet as she says mostly to herself "Riku…I'm glad to have had you as my partner, even if it was for such a short period of time. When I look to the stars from here on out, I'll likely think of you and the time we spent together…Thank you."

The hunter barely gets any time to spend thinking about the boy when the Aurora Unit suddenly appears in holographic form, surprising Samus and causing her to sit back down as the figures speaks _"So…It appears as though Phaaze has been destroyed for good this time. Congratulations on completing the missions, Samus Aran, and we will forward the money from this mission to your account post-haste. However, while I can only imagine the stress this mission has brought upon you, we have to express urgency in another crisis that has come to our attention thanks to Dark Samus' return. Come back to the GFS Olympus whenever you can, and we shall discuss our discovery of the Metroid's home world…" _

The Aurora Unit quickly signs out, and Samus is left to her own devices once more. Grabbing hold onto the steering wheel of her ship, the hunter smiles one last time out into the depths of space where Phaaze once was in remembrance of the boy, and with a quiet whisper she says "…Maybe there is a possibility that you survived." Still holding a fragment of hope in her heart, the hunter turns her ship around and prepares to head off to the GFS Olympus.

But unbeknownst to Samus, her hopes had already come true. Floating far along the depths of space away from the end of planet Phaaze is the teenage Overlord, his body having been restored perfectly to its original state in the final moments of the planet with his consciousness having been inserted into it for him to control as he sees fit.

In the final moments of Metroid Prime's life, it recreated the boy's body in its one and only act of kindness, but the timing of the recreation made it so Riku's body was launched far away from Phaaze once the planet exploded. An aura of air surrounding the teenage Overlord's currently unconscious body, protecting him from the killing vacuum of space as he floats onward.

Thanks to the slight damage to his consciousness in the final moments of Phazon's existence, the boy was currently forced to wait for his consciousness to be reconstructed, but when he finally awakened from his slumber he would be in for a surprise…For as days turned into weeks and then into a couple months, his body was on a direct course for a lone yellow planet that was shaped like a five-pointed star…

_To be continued in Clash of the Elements: Return of Dark Matter…_

* * *

**Afterword:**

Well, that's the end of the second of six stories for this Part. All in all, despite how rough of a time it was for me to start this story up while working on a second fic, I must admit that I enjoyed writing this story a lot more than the Zelda world tale. Maybe this has to do with my greater like of the Metroid series compared to Zelda, or perhaps because I did an original tale here instead of copying Ocarina of Time for the most part despite how necessary the events were for the development of Riku's character.

Usually after these stories I tend to go off on a few details involving the plot in the form of a made-up questionnaire, but I think a lot of the plot details were pretty much answered and it shouldn't be too hard to figure out other parts if you read between the lines a bit. If you do have any questions though, feel free to ask, I'm always open to answering.

Anyways, as the end of this Epilogue would imply, the next story shall take place on the Kirby world, in what shall be yet another original story. The villain should be obvious off the bat, but that doesn't mean there isn't going to be any surprises. Just keep an eye out on that section of , since I'm not getting started on that right away. I still have to go back to the Zelda story and do up a quick What-If, and then I need to write another story for Tales of Plit involving Mallow, which will only take three chapters. So for estimates sake, the Kirby story should be up and running by the start of October at the very least. That story will be rather short much like this one, and its kind of meant to be a breather between a rather major short story and the second half of Part 4. But there will still be a couple character development moments that will be crucial for how Riku acts in accordance to the rest of the worlds he visits, so if you care to follow his tale then keep reading, or perhaps just read because you are also a fan of the Kirby series.

Either way, I appreciate all the support you readers have been giving, even if its a simple remark of "Nice story" or criticism such as "The paragraphs are too clunky", and I hope to continue writing for you all. Until the next tale arises, have a wonderful day!


End file.
